


Who I'm Meant To Be

by Tarvera



Series: Meant to Be [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Peter Hale, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Banshee Powers, Canon-Typical Violence, Multi, Season/Series 02, Slow Build, Warning: Gerard Argent, Werewolf Mates, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:40:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 94,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27427324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarvera/pseuds/Tarvera
Summary: The Hale pack is being rebuilt but vulnerable in its fledgling state. Peter needs time to cement the pack bonds and train his new betas. Time is a luxury that he does not have as Gerard Argent has come to town to bury his daughter. Stiles and Allison are still coming to grips with what it means to be part of the new Hale pack and their fathers' reactions to their new status. Lydia Martin just wants to be normal and have nothing to do with the weirdness that plagues Beacon Hills. Her dreams, however, won't let her stay away.Who you think you are and who you are meant to be aren't always the same thing. Sometimes you need to let go of what you think you need to be in order to truly embrace yourself.Season 2 AU, picking up from where the previous story (How It's Meant to Be) left off.
Relationships: Allison Argent & Derek Hale, Allison Argent & Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent & Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Meant to Be [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918180
Comments: 444
Kudos: 623





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The sequel is here! It's going to be a long ride guys, so buckle up. I'm 50k in and I think I'm only at a third of the way through. My plan is to post once a week so I won't run out of chapters (hopefully). I almost waited longer to start posting but decided I needed to start posting because you all help motivate me to keep writing with your lovely kudos and comments. 
> 
> This is a very slow build with a lot of character and world building. Also it will be switching between three POVs as a heads up (Lydia, Stiles, Allison). Some mild smut will be in future chapters but it will not be a main focus. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy it. Let me know what you think in the comments!

_There was smoke everywhere. It was in her lungs and eyes. Flames licked up the wall beside her and she couldn’t see a way out of the inferno. Dizzily, she fell to her knees as she heard someone calling out her name. The words were fuzzy and far away. With a sudden clarity, she realized she was dying. Gasping, she looked around in panicked desperation for a way out. There was no way out, the burning heat of the fire pressed in tight against her. Smoke filled her lungs. The last thing she saw was a crimson feather forming in the flames._

Lydia woke up with a scream on her lips. Panting harshly, she sat up in her bed and clutched at the blankets around her. The dream was still flickering behind her eyelids and she closed her eyes, willing the images away. This one had been different than normal. None of the others had felt this real or urgent. She closed her eyes again and took deep, careful breaths. The face was dancing around now, wrapped in shadows and unclear at the moment. Her fingers twitched with need but she clutched the blankets a bit tighter. Not yet. She had learned that it came easier if she let the dream sit for a moment. 

The first time she had woke up like this. Her mother had been through her bedroom door in minutes. The concern had been real back then and she’d been soothed out of trembling for the first time since she was a child. Then it happened again and again. The sleeping pills, the anti anxiety pills, the depression medication, none of it could stop her from dreaming. So now, her mother took the pills, put in earplugs and slept through it. Lydia would cry herself back to sleep and wake up and lie that nothing had happened the previous night and her sleep had been wonderful. Her mother would smile and lie and say that if the dreams ever did come back, Lydia should tell her. Lydia would say how lucky she was to have such a caring mother. 

Climbing out of bed, she locked these thoughts back up where they belonged, in a storage closet in her mind where she tried to never open the door. Flicking her desk lamp on, she squeezed her hands together to make them stop shaking. “Focus, Lydia.” She said to herself as she pulled out the notebook she’d started a week after the first dream. Opening it to the first page, she made herself look at the drawing of Laura Hale, lying in two pieces on the ground. Next to the drawing was a taped in newspaper report showing a similar image. Taking a deep breath, she flipped through the notebook. The pages showed the drawings of people dying or dead and the news article proving that these dreams weren’t just dreams. 

On every page, she’d written down the date and time she had woken up. For each person she had screamed for their death 24 hours or more before they died. Landing on an open page, she closed her eyes and began to draw. She had found that she didn’t remember their faces until she drew them. Drawing them was a compulsion she had fought at first but had quickly learned that until she put them down on paper the itching feeling in her bones would just grow and grow. 

Finishing, she paused for a moment before opening her eyes, her hands were shaking again, “You can do this, you are strong, unbreakable,” she opened her eyes and froze. Staring at her, with lifeless eyes, was the face of Stiles Stilinski. 

She backed up so quickly, her desk chair fell over with a clatter. Gasping, she clamped her hands over her mouth to stop a second scream. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, trembling, willing back tears. No, no, no, not Stiles. The image of his face was now burned into her mind and even closing her eyes wouldn’t get rid of it. She sank down to the floor before her legs gave out. Her hatred of whatever this was bubbled up within her like never before. Why did these faces and visions come to her? Why did she have to be the one to know they would die? 

It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about trying to warn the people she dreamt about. When she had recognized someone for the first time she had almost gone straight to the bus driver and blurted it all out to him. Cold, hard, logic stopped her. Her whole life had been a lesson in maintaining the correct appearance or you would suffer for it. Life had to be controlled and kept in perfect order, you could not let yourself show weakness or compassion.

There had been only a few people in her life that had been exceptions to her rule not to care for others. A long time ago, Stiles had been one of those people. Stiles and Jackson had been friends in diapers. When preschool started and Lydia was struggling with interacting with kids her age, Stiles had been the one to convince Jackson to give a girl a chance at being friends. It had been wonderful to have friends who didn’t expect anything of her, who didn’t care that she was smart, and thought her creating experiments was amazing. Then Stiles' mom died and everything went to pieces and their friendship was broken. 

She couldn’t think of that right now. Focus, Lydia, she told herself. She hadn’t known any of the other people in her dreams so she’d been able to keep emotionally detached from it all. The only ones she’d even recognized were the bus driver and Kate Argent. The rest had all been from other parts of the county.

She choked back another sob, not Stiles. Could she even stop this? She was no hero, she wasn’t even a nice person. She had ruthlessly shoved down any possible guilt over these deaths by telling herself that there was no way to stop one. She knew how precognition and prophecy worked. Once a prediction had been made, any action one would take to try and stop it would inevitably cause it to come to pass. Walking back over to the desk, Stiles’ face stared back up at her, condemning her. Could she really do nothing and just wait for Stiles to die? She’d worked so hard to not let anyone see any weakness in her but was her pride worth his life? 

A memory from the previous year came back to her suddenly. It’d been right after the town had gotten news of her parent’s divorce. Her father had been cruel that morning, crueler than usual and her mom hadn’t been home in three days. Stiles had found her, hidden in their old spot in the forest from when they were kids. He hadn’t said anything. He’d just sat there with her and held her hand. The next day she’d gone out of her way to be mean to him, she’d hated that he had been kind to her when she didn’t have any kindness to give to him. She let out a choked sob, she didn’t have kindness to give to him but maybe she could save his life. 

Mind now made up, she quickly dressed, packed up her notebook, map and computer and slipped out of the house. She barely remembered the drive to the Stilinski house, just one moment she was climbing into her car and the next she was pulling up and banging on the door. Desperation was coursing through now, she just had to make Stiles believe her. Except it wasn’t Stiles who opened the door, it was Allison. 

Her mind quickly changed questions. “Where’s Stiles?” 

“Lydia? Are you ok?” Allison was looking at her with concern. She resisted the urge to say something cutting, but also refused to answer the other girl. 

“Where is Stiles?” 

With relief she heard Stiles voice coming from behind Allison. “Hey Ally, what’s going on -- woah, Lydia, hi.” 

Pushing past Allison, Lydia moved quickly into the house. “I need to talk to you.” She shot a glare at Allison. “Alone.” 

Stiles looked at Allison and it made her want to scream in frustration. It was hard enough for her to come here and be this vulnerable in front of Stiles. She couldn’t do it in front of Allison. 

“Please…” She said, letting her voice waver and break. Stiles’ whole face softened and he stepped towards her offering a hand. His eyes were still as sharp as ever and she could feel him carefully taking in whatever signals she was giving off. He was the one person in her life that she had never been able to fool. She reached forward and clung to the hand in front of her. The sudden urge for comfort overwhelmed her, it was so hard to be in this alone. With a sob that surprised her, she fell forward and held Stiles tight. 

“Woah!” Stiles said, surprise evident, it didn’t stop him from wrapping her up in his arms and holding her back just as tight. Internally, she cursed her weakness. This was the kind of weak that her parents would despise to see. The kind of weak she had spent the last eight years carefully purging out of herself. But this pain and fear had been eating away at her for so long she couldn’t help but sink into the comfort provided. 

By the time she had gotten out all the tears and pulled back, Allison had disappeared. Stiles pulled her gently to the kitchen table so she could set everything that she brought on top of it. He then started to pull out a pot, milk and chocolate. It almost made her start crying again, the first time Stiles had dragged her to his home his mom, Claudia, had taken one look at her and scooped her up in a hug. She had cried in Claudia’s arms then the woman had made the very same hot chocolate Stiles was putting together now.

She took a few sips, letting the warmth go through her as she anxiously tried to decide how to start talking about this. Stiles just sipped on his own cup and watched her silently. Finally, with trembling hands, she took out her notebook and pushed it towards him. “I...I don’t know how to start...I just...please don’t think I’m crazy. I’ve been having these dreams.” She paused, her hands shaking again, so she put down her cup. Stiles reached over and took hold of her hand, gently rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. It was more comforting than she felt like it should be. 

“The first dream happened the night before the police found half a body in the preserve. The second dream happened the night before the bus driver was found dead. Every one of them happens roughly a day before the death occurs. They all aren’t violent or murder, a few have been natural deaths or there was one that was a car crash. But they always come true. I didn’t realize what was happening at first, it took me far too long to put it all together. It’s all in this notebook, I have a map too, all the deaths happen in beacon county.” 

“Lydia,” Stiles said, slowly, “why are you telling me about this now?” 

“I...I can’t say it. Please...just look at the last page. When I wake up, I scream and then it’s like this compulsion happens and I just have to draw the faces…” 

Stiles let go of her hand and slowly started to flip through the notebook. His sharp eyes caught every detail, including all the dates and notes she had made. She gripped her mug with both hands. He froze when he got to the last page and looked up at her with widened eyes. Both of them sat there, staring at each other for what seemed like hours but must have been only minutes. Lydia resolutely pushed back more tears, she didn’t want to cry anymore. 

“Stiles?” Allison stood at the doorway of the kitchen. Her gaze was hard as she looked at Lydia for a moment before switching back to Stiles with concern. Wordlessly he turned the notebook towards the other girl. Allison gasped and rushed forward to look closer at the image on the page. Lydia took in the other girl, considering that Allison looked like she knew what had been said. Which should not be possible as the other girl had just come down the stairs only a few seconds earlier. 

“Is this true?” Allison turned to Lydia. Some sort of trick of the lights in the room made Allison’s eyes look gold for a moment. 

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.” Lydia said, her tone sharp. Inwardly she was cursing. The last thing she wanted was for anyone else to know about this. She looked at Stiles but he was somewhere far off at the moment. 

“Not my business? You just told my best friend that he is going to die sometime in the next 24 hours and it’s not my business?” Allison’s eyes definitely glowed yellow. Lydia jumped back, spilling some of the hot chocolate. 

“Ally. Stop. It’s ok.” Stiles reached up and brushed his hand against Allison’s shoulder up to her neck and squeezed gently. The girl seemed to deflate and sunk down into the chair next to Stiles. He turned back to Lydia. “I know how hard it would be for you to come here...I...thank you. I will need to tell someone else about this.” 

“What?” Startled and afraid, Lydia pushed herself up and out of her chair. “No. Stiles, I...you can’t. They’ll lock me up. If my parents...I know my mom is already thinking about it, I always scream, always. She’s made comments. If she knows anyone else knows, she will send me away. You know this. Please.” 

Stiles got up and moved around the table towards her. “No, no, no...it’s ok, he won’t tell anyone. And he might actually know why this is happening to you, ok? I believe you, you knew I would believe you. This person is smart and knows a lot about this kind of thing. He also knows how important it is to keep secrets like this. Look...I...shit. Lydia, I’m a werewolf.” 

Lydia just stared at him, her brain was mentally running through all the events of the last two months. “The video store.” She whispered and looked up in time to see Stiles’ wince. “This other person is also a werewolf.” 

He nodded, “Yes. He’s the one who turned me into one.” 

Her mind rapidly put a thousand tiny clues and hints together. “Scott too.” The implications of all this made her glare at Stiles. “You realize this means that you let Jackson be right about something while I was the idiot?” 

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Yeah well...you weren’t exactly being my biggest fan and shit, Lyds, I had a lot going on.” 

She didn’t let up on the glare but in reality was feeling too tired to be petty about this. “Well, then, what are we waiting for. We still have school tomorrow.” 

“Stiles is not the one who woke us up at midnight with an emergency.” Allison was giving her a look that if Lydia had been any other type of girl she would have taken as a threat. 

“This emergency is to save Stiles' life, if anything you both should be grateful to me for telling you. Come along, Stiles, we don’t have all night.” Before Allison could retort she spun around and moved to leave the house. Behind her she heard Stiles pick up her notebook and bag and start to follow her out the door. 

She heard Allison muttering something to Stiles and a resigned sigh from the boy. When they came out, Allison gave her a cool look before going to the passenger side of Stiles derelict that he called a jeep. She frowned, “I do hope you aren’t expecting me to ride in that thing, I am obviously driving us there.” 

Stiles snorted and opened up the driver door. “Ha. Yeah no. Lydia, get in the car.” She opened her mouth to unleash scorn but he fixed her with a hard look. The objection died in her throat. Damm, when had Stiles grown up and learned how to give looks like that. Primly she walked over and looked at Allison pointedly. Allison’s eyes turned yellow again, she simply raised her eyebrows in challenge. 

Before the other girl could do or say anything else, Stiles spoke up, “Allison…” He sounded exhausted. Allison seemed to deflate then mumbled something as she climbed over the seat to sit in the back. Lydia smiled in victory and held out a hand for Stiles to help her up. He did so, giving her another eye roll. 

The drive, to wherever they were going, was quiet. Lydia kept looking over at Stiles, anxiety was curling in her gut. She kept all her uncertainties from appearing outwardly. Years of practice had taught her how to hide anything she wanted. She did make a small noise of surprise when Stiles turned into the drive to get to what the native Beacon Hills residents called the ‘cleb club’. It was where the super rich and famous lived. They were usually minor celebrities or celebrities that truly valued their privacy as Beacon Hills wasn’t exactly what one would call a budding metropolis. She looked over at Stiles with a raised eyebrow when the security at the gate opened automatically and waved him through. 

When they drove all the way to the end of the driveways and hit another gate that opened she began to feel a tiny bit of nerves. Just who was this person Stiles was bringing her to? He pulled up to the house and threw the jeep in park and then rubbed his face furiously. He turned to her and said, as serious as she had ever seen him, “Look, Lydia, Peter is...intense. You need to just be completely honest with him about everything. No deflecting or trying to prove yourself dominant, it won’t work with him. Trust me, he is the most dominant in every room he is in whether the people there realize it or not, you will not win a game of chicken with him.” 

Lydia gave him a haughty glare. “I do hope I know how to read a person and a room better than that. It’s like you don’t know me at all.” 

Stiles gave out a hollow laugh. “Ok, ok, shit, fine. Do your thing, your highness.” He got out of the car and shifted the seat for Allison to climb out and then rounded it to help her get down. Giving him a graceful smile she sailed up the porch and knocked daintily. She felt more at ease here, at a house like this than she had at Stiles’ place. This was more her world and she had been learning her whole life how to navigate it. Werewolf or not, the rich and privileged were all the same. 

The door opened as she reached the front steps. The man who had opened scowled at her before speaking over her to Stiles. “This had better be important.” 

Sarcasm was evident in Stiles’ voice as he answered. “Yeah, dude, ‘cause I’d be showing up here at ass o’clock for something not important.” 

Somehow, the man’s scowl grew deeper. “Don’t call me dude. Who’s that?” 

“She’s Lydia. Lydia, this is Derek in case you didn’t recognize him from when he was a wanted fugitive.” 

Lydia raised her eyebrows at Stiles while giving the scowling Derek an unimpressed look. The man might be attractive but his demeanor was very off putting. “Are we just going to stand here all night or…?” 

Stiles sighed and rubbed a hand through his growing hair. “Yeah, ok, sourwolf, let’s go talk to the big bad himself.” The teen shoved past the glowering Derek and moved inside. Gathering herself together Lydia followed. Thankfully, Derek moved out of her way so she didn’t have to engage in any pointless posturing. The room that Stiles led her into was currently empty. She cautiously followed him over to a large kitchen table and sat down when he sat. Turning around, she frowned when she realized neither Derek or Allison were behind them. 

“Derek and Allison are talking at the entrance.” Stiles said into the silence. 

“I wasn’t wondering.” She said back sharply. 

“Right.” The silence lingered for a moment longer until Stiles grew too curious. “So, you really haven’t researched this at all to figure out what it is?” 

Lydia shot the teen a scornful glare. “Of course I’ve researched it. What do you take me for? But please tell me how I’m supposed to get anything useful about googling, ‘foretelling death dreams.’ I couldn’t tell anyone, Stiles, could you imagine how my parents would react to this?” 

Stiles winced. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Shit. You’d think that nothing would surprise me after the revelation that werewolves are real...but...fuck.” 

“There are more things in heaven and earth…” A smooth voice said from the hallway. Lydia shifted just time to see an unknown man slip into the room. He moved towards them and met her eyes with a calculated expression on his face. For the first time in her life, the mere presence of someone made her feel afraid. Suddenly, Stiles' words from earlier made a lot more sense. This man was dangerous. 

“Really? Isn’t that a little cliche?” Stiles’ voice seemed to break through the almost trance she’d fallen into from staring into the man’s eyes. Shuddering, she looked back at Stiles, letting his familiar presence bring her comfort. 

“There can still be truth in cliches.” The man had reached the table and moved around it to run a hand over Stiles’ head to rest on the teen’s neck. Stiles sighed and leaned back into the caress. Sharp blue eyes flicked back up to look at her and she felt the breath leave her body for a moment. Determined to stand her ground, she straightened her posture and met his gaze as evenly as possible. 

“You must be Peter.” She was proud of how steady the words came out. 

He grinned at her, all sharp white teeth. “And you must be the famous Lydia.” 

“Stiles says you are the werewolf who turned him into one.” 

Peter’s eyes gleamed bright red and a small smirk played across his lips. “Did he. I am assuming then your presence here is somehow related to that information?” 

“He also said I could trust you.” The words came out a little unsteady to her chagrin. Her fear at discovery has such a tight hold over her that even with Stiles’ reassurance she was struggling to not turn and flee the room. 

The man (werewolf) looked down at Stiles who had been steadily staring at the table for the conversation. The hand on Stiles’ neck squeezed down, making him look up at the older man. Lydia suddenly felt like an outsider to a conversation she can’t understand. The feeling made her irritated and she had to bite her tongue to keep herself from lashing out. She was here for Stiles, for old loyalty and because she didn’t think she could live with herself if she didn’t try and stop this death. 

“Can I trust you, Lydia?” 

Her eyes went back up to meet Peter’s gaze and she flinched at the intensity she found there. For a moment she wasn’t sure what she could possibly say in answer to that but thinking about her previous thoughts she squared her shoulders and answered. “You can trust that I don’t want Stiles to die and you can trust I have no desire to end up in some mental institution which is where I’ll end up if any of this gets back to my parents. I have more at stake here than you do so don’t try and condescend me or compare us.” 

The gleam in his eyes was back. “Explain the part about Stiles not dying.” 

It was both harder and easier this time to explain the dreams. Easier because she had done it before and she had gotten out all her tears earlier so she was able to stay calm through the retelling. It was harder because she did not trust this man at all to have her best interests in mind. When she had finished, Peter demanded to see the notebook.

“Do you remember the faces in your mind after you draw them?” The question startled her, she hadn’t realized her mind was wandering. 

“Sometimes. Not always clearly, it depends on the dream and it’s clarity.” 

Peter hummed thoughtfully and tapped the notebook with his finger. “The fascinating part about the supernatural is that it is very rare for someone to manifest the same talents in the same way when it comes to magic. Even werewolves will have differences in their strengths and weaknesses. But the ones with innate magic…” 

Stiles had perked back up when Peter started talking. “Is all innate magic the same and it just manifests differently or is it like the wolf spark with a beta spark or an alpha spark?” Lydia found herself mildly shocked at the soft smile Peter gave Stiles. She wouldn’t have thought the man was capable of softening like that for anyone. 

“More like the wolf spark in a way. All creatures of some level of spark in them or soul as the religious might say, but for those of us who aren’t quite human the spark manifests in different ways. Some of it is genetics, thus how we get born werewolves and witches and druids are more likely to produce a witch or a druid. Some people think the magic chooses the right person in a bloodline while others attribute it simply to chance. It is possible for magic users to grow the spark inside them or supplement it with other sources. This is what most witches and druids do. Their spark is almost identical to start and the way they cultivate will change the direction it manifests in.” 

The sound of a chair scraping against the wood floor made Lydia flinch. She had been caught up in what Peter was saying and hadn’t noticed Allison and Derek returning to the room. The two of them were somber and as they sat down she noticed the slightly heated look that passed between them. She filed it away for future contemplation. Turning back to Peter she was about to ask him to get to the point when Derek spoke up. 

“Uncle, while all of this is fascinating, do you know what Lydia is?” 

Lydia stiffened and she glared at Derek. “Well, that’s a very rude thing to say. ‘What’ I am is human and tired and I would really like to be taken home now so I can try to get some more sleep before school.” 

“I have a few theories but would like Jennifer to talk to her before I say anything out loud about it. Oh and Lydia, my dear, rude or not he is right. You are not human, or at least, not fully human.” 

Before she could respond to that another voice spoke up. “She’s a banshee. Which, you could have just said, Peter, if you didn’t delight in being dramatic even at hell o’clock in the morning.” 

A disgruntled looking woman came into the kitchen. She looked like she had just woken up and was still in her pajamas. Lydia frowned at the bright pink flannel with tiny unicorns on them. It clashed horribly with the woman’s red hair. Stiles was staring gleefully at the pajamas and looked like he was about to say something. 

“No.” The woman said, giving Stiles a dark look.“It was a bet I lost and no, I also won’t tell you with whom and what the bet was.” Allison and Stiles both shot a look at Derek, but the beta was blandly looking up at the ceiling. The woman muttered a curse and went over to start the coffee maker. 

“What is a banshee.” Lydia said, irritation rising up in her again. 

“The wailing women.” Stiles murmured. 

Peter looked at him, obviously pleased. “Very good, sweetheart.” 

There was a bang from the kitchen as the woman slammed one of the cabinets shut. She gave them all a look of disgust. “Gods and spirits, do I have to do everything here? A banshee comes from the Irish ‘Ben Side’. The old myths will tell you they were fae or fairies as the moderns have translated it to. Maybe they were originally, but in these times it’s in a bloodline, it gets passed down through the generations on the mother’s side. Most women who have it in their blood never manifest.” Stiles had perked up now and leapt up to pull out a chair for the woman as she came over to the table gripping a giant mug of coffee with both hands. 

“What makes them manifest?” The teen asked eagerly as he sat back down on Peter’s lap this time. The alpha put an arm around Stiles’ waist and seemed to relax a small amount. Lydia blinked at them both but before she could process that revelation the woman continued talking. 

“Usually some sort of trauma causes a manifestation, if a close loved one dies or they almost die in a traumatic way. However, unless you tell me otherwise Lydia, I think your manifestation is the fault of Peter and when he claimed the land at the Nemeton.” 

“The what?”

“Why would you do this to me?” 

Peter interrupted their questions with a deep growl. Lydia, still furious, sat there and glared at the man. Stiles was just looking eager for more information and glared back at her. “If Peter had done this on purpose to you, Lyds, then he would have known already that this was happening to you.” 

Peter nuzzled at Stiles’ neck and smiled. “Exactly and to answer your question. The Nemeton is an oak tree that was brought here by my ancestors from an incredibly ancient tree in our homeland. When magic ruled the lands and not science, Nemetons were carefully cultivated and to be considered a true werewolf pack your lands would need to have one planted on them. It was often considered part of the trials of a new alpha if he wanted to claim his own land to travel to the original Nemeton and ask for a seed. If you inherited the alpha spark from --” 

“While I’m sure this is all very fascinating, it does not help me stop these dreams and it does not help save Stiles’ life. If we could please get back to the point quickly.” Lydia cut in giving him a withering look. 

Peter gave her a cold look in response. “I will make allowances for the stress and fear you are under, Miss Martin, but do not interrupt me again. As I was saying, if one inherits the land from their family, there is a ritual one must do to bind the Nemeton to the new alpha. I did this ritual a few nights before I...became an alpha as I was unsure if Laura would ever return and was hoping further bonding myself to the land would help me regain my strength faster.” 

He looked away and drew several deep breaths before looking directly at Derek and continuing in a much softer tone. “I am sorry, Derek, I should have told you before...I was...it is hard for me to admit it to you as both Jennifer and I believe the only reason I was able to defeat Laura was because the land had already accepted me and rejected her. Believe me, please, that this was not my original intent.” 

Oh, Lydia thought as she shot a look at Derek who had shuddered and looked away. The rest of the pieces clicked into place. This was Peter Hale, if she hadn’t been so rattled she would have realized it sooner so that meant that Laura Hale had been killed by...she felt an icey cold feeling descend over her. 

Peter looked at Lydia again. “So, as you can see, Miss Martin, I did not do this to you on purpose or even know it had happened. You manifested because the Nemeton called you to. It’s not surprising. Many of the supernatural feel drawn to a place that has a Nemeton even if they are unaware of it or their own abilities.” 

Lydia’s lips thinned. She wasn’t sure she believed the man but didn’t see what choice she had at the moment. “I see. Thank you for explaining. However, you haven’t answered the most important question yet. Can we stop one of my dreams from happening? I’ve read all about foretellings and how by trying to stop one you bring it about...but my dreams happen when nothing is done to try and stop them.” 

Peter looked at her, his face impassive. “I believe they can be stopped. You aren’t a seer, you are a predictor of death in that you can feel death coming for others. The hard part is that death is hard to circumvent, especially if it is strong enough to trigger a banshee. You would only get dreams or feelings if the intent of the death coming is strong. It’s not fate or set in stone but whatever is coming will not be easy to stop.” 

Lydia nodded, feeling shaky again. “All right then. I believe whatever you need from me is done. If someone could please take me home I would appreciate it.” 

Allison scoffed to her side. “That sounds about right. You only care when it’s convenient don’t you? I guess even you have a conscience but to just walk away now, cold.” 

Lydia gave her former friend a cold glare. “I’m just being pragmatic. I won’t be of any more help here. I saw the dream and I did what I could with it. It’s not up to me anymore to stop anything.” 

Allison looked like she was about to say more when Stiles spoke up. “Allison, let it go please. She’s right, she has done what she can. We can’t expect her to stay and fight with us, she’s not our pack. It’s ok.” 

Lydia felt something clench inside her at those words and it made her look away. This was all so new to her but something in how Stiles said the word ‘pack’ made her feel bereft to not be included for him. Even after she had refused to be his friend she had still been one of his people. Stiles would do anything for somehow he considered his and she had taken advantage of this over the years. She wasn’t sure she knew how to give without gain anymore and the steady trickle of shame and guilt she felt every time she was around Stiles grew at his words. 

Not able to stand it anymore she stood up. “Well. Good. Now, I really need to get home.” 

Peter smoothly rose to his feet with a small smile on his face. She met his eyes squarely, refusing to give an inch. “I’ll drive you home. Allison, Stiles, I want you both to stay here tonight. You’ll go to school in the morning unless something changes between now and then. We will stick together as soon as school ends.” 

Nodding at the man, she turned to go only to stop at Stiles’ quiet, “Lydia.” Trying to hold onto her composure she turned to see him rounding the table. “Hey, just...thank you, ok? Thank you.” He hugged her again pulling her in with strong arms that she didn’t remember him having before. The stiffness seemed to melt off her by its own accord as she held him back tightly. 

“Don’t die. Please.” She whispered. 

He let go and pulled back, giving her a small smile. “Thumbs promise.” 

A shaky laugh escaped her. “You’re still an idiot.” 

“And you’re a wimp.” His smile turned sad then and she had to look away. These were all memories better left alone and yet she couldn’t seem to get them out of her head lately. Peter moved towards her, stopping to lightly kiss Stiles on the cheek. The man gave her a calculating look and gestured towards the front of the house. 

“Shall we?” 

She gave him a tight nod and followed him out of the house. Peter was silent while they got in his car and started driving. The anxiety was rising back up in her again and she ruthlessly pushed it down. There wasn’t time for this, she had done what she could for Stiles. Now she just had to hope that Peter wasn’t going to use this against her. 

“You don’t have to be afraid of me, you know.” The man in question said quietly. 

“Don’t I?” 

Peter chuckled. “Stiles would be upset if anything caused you harm and I am, shall we say, rather invested in not upsetting Stiles.” 

“You make it sound like I’m a vase on a shelf that might get knocked over.” Her hands were clenched tight in her lap and she kept her tone sharp. 

“Hmm...I take it that you object to the analogy?.” 

“I’m not fragile and I’m very capable of taking care of myself.” 

“I never said or implied you were fragile. Anyone who has been living with death in their minds for as long as you have with no true understanding of what was happening could possibly be called fragile.” 

Lydia didn’t want the words to make her feel better but apparently she was that starved for positive reinforcement that his praise felt good. The rest of the drive passed in silence until they pulled up to the Stilinski house. As she was getting out of the car, Peter leaned over and touched her wrist. 

“Lydia, you will need to train this ability or eventually it will consume you. I have resources that could help you.” He said, his voice earnest. 

“And what would your price be?” He hesitated in answering which gave her all the answer she needed. “I have no desire to become beholden to someone like you. I do hope you are as good as you clearly think you are because otherwise Stiles is in trouble.” 

With those last words she shut the car door and headed over to her own. She managed to hold herself together for the drive to her house, parking the car and then getting inside. Once she was safely behind her bedroom door she let herself collapse on the bed and cry. She wished it was that easy. That she could just accept Peter’s help and be in Stiles’ pack, whatever that meant. Hugging her pillow tight against herself, she started counting her breaths to lull herself back to sleep. 

Life didn’t work that way. She had made too many choices to get the path she was on to deviate now. The Lydia that had believed she could be herself was older and more experienced now, and had put childish ways behind her. The world would never accept her as herself, so she gave them what they wanted to see. There was no going back for her, just forward, always forward.


	2. Chapter 2

Sleep did not come easily to Stiles in the few hours in between when Lydia left and he had to get up for school. He’d been on edge until Peter had gotten back, then he’d been unable to settle his mind. The last two and half weeks since Kate had died had been stressful ones. It didn’t help that his dad had been monitoring (limiting) any time spent with Peter like the sheriff was afraid the alpha would do something terrible if Stiles was left alone with him. What probably made it worse was that he couldn’t tell his dad that there was nothing going on between him and Peter. His dad knew this and was getting increasingly over protective. Rolling over Stiles shoved his face into Peter’s side breathing in his alpha’s scent. 

“You need to relax sweetheart.” Peter murmured sleepily. 

“Can’t. Too many thoughts to be a thinking.” 

“Hmmm…” Peter turned over and tugged Stiles up so they could kiss. Stiles could lose himself in these kisses if he let himself. Peter’s mouth was perfectly fitted against his and the alpha knew just how to nip and lick his way in that caused Stiles to lose his mind. All too soon Peter pulled back with a groan and rested his head on Stiles’ shoulder. Panting, Stiles laid his head back against his pillow trying to will down his erection. Being able to smell Peter’s arousal was not helping the situation at all. It was so tempting to just say to hell with it and let all this tension between him and Peter finally go somewhere. 

He sighed and rolled away, Peter let him go with a smirk. “Shut up…” 

“I didn’t say anything.” Peter’s sharp grin said a lot, however, as the wolf sat up and stretched lazily. Stiles gulped, his eyes drawn to the flexing muscles and obvious erection tenting the sleep pants he knew Peter wore just for his benefit. 

“Ugg. You’re evil.” 

Peter chuckled. “Yes, I’m so evil that I find my mate attractive and irresistible. Kill me now.” 

Bringing up a pillow, he attempted to twack the smug wolf with it. Peter caught it easily and tugged it towards himself, pulling Stiles with it. “I just can’t yet...Peter, it hasn’t even been a month since you bit me and there’s my dad. I don’t want to lose him but I couldn’t listen if he told me to stay away from you and you know I’m terrible at lying and the only reason he hasn’t panicked about this completely is because I’ve said we aren’t having sex and --” He hadn’t realized he was building himself up into a panic until Peter was wrapping him up in a hug and soothing him gently. 

“It’s all right Stiles. I was just teasing you, my love. It’s alright. This has been a lot for you and you’ve taken it all so well. I’m not upset and you can take the time you need.” 

He buried his face in Peter’s shoulder, breathing in the alpha’s scent and letting it calm him down. “I’m sorry.” 

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry I pushed you. This isn’t the right time for it regardless of anything else.” 

“I don’t want to die Peter.” 

Peter growled, deep and reverberating. “You are not going to die. Whomever is planning on killing you, I am going to rip them to shreds.” 

It probably shouldn’t comfort him that much to hear Peter’s death threat but it did and he relaxed even more into his mate’s warmth. Eventually, he did have to get up and go shower. After that, he made his way into the kitchen and found Derek making breakfast. He paused to nuzzle at the back of Derek’s neck. 

“Hey, sourwolf, how’d you sleep?” 

A low growl responded to this. “I told you not to call me that.” The angry tone and growl were contradicted by Derek turning his head to rub his cheek on the top of Stiles’ hair. Grinning, Stiles grabbed a plate and loaded it with food to go sit at the table. 

Allison came in, her hair still damp and practically inhaled the sausage Derek had made. At Stiles’ grin, she grimaced back at him. “I got up early and went for a run, I keep forgetting how much hungrier I get as a wolf.” She growled as her wet hair almost fell into her food. “I really need to get a haircut, I’m thinking I’ll just chop most of it off. This is getting too damn annoying.” 

“We could do that after school.” Stiles said, eager at the thought of avoiding going home and dealing with his dad. 

“No.” Peter said, flicking at his ear. “You are coming straight back here after school and staying here again tonight.” 

Stiles winced, “Peter, my dad…” 

The alpha’s face darkened and Stiles resisted the urge to whine and give in. “I suppose we will just be at your house tonight then.” Stiles opened his mouth to object to that as well but thought better of it and snapped it shut. Peter and his dad could argue this one out. 

Allison rode to school with Derek in the camaro. Stiles was grateful to have the time to himself. The events of the night before were difficult to process beyond just having anxiety about them. He was still a little amazed that Lydia had come to him. He had truly begun to wonder if the girl he’d once been best friends with was gone forever. She and him used to be inseparable, just like he and Scott had been. Thinking of Scott made him hurt all over again. His once best friend had only gotten angier over the past couple weeks. 

Maybe he was just cursed to lose his friends. He had never hated Lydia for abandoning him. She’d lost his mom too and he knew (even better now) the kind of pressure her mother was putting on her to be the perfect angel daughter. Lydia’s mother didn’t care that her daughter was a genius, she just wanted someone who followed every order and made her feel good about herself. 

Trying to push his thoughts of Lydia to the side they landed on Peter and he grimaced. His relationship with the alpha was so complicated that he didn’t know how to even begin to untangle his thoughts on the matter. He’d already devoted a lot of hours to trying to sort out how and why he had fallen so fast for the man. He just knew that he loved Peter and the alpha was it for him. It was almost like a deep knowledge in the core of his being. Peter said that was him knowing the mate bond as a werewolf. The alpha also said that the more Stiles merged the two sides of himself the more it would make sense to him. 

He was really not looking forward to the day when he had to try and explain werewolf mating bonds to his dad. Oh wolf gods, his dad was going to freak out. The sheriff was already close to freaking out most of the time and the ominous response he’d gotten to the text that he and Allison were sleeping at Peter’s had not been promising. His only comfort at the moment was that his dad’s main worry seemed to be about Stiles’ safety and not that his son was a werewolf. 

Climbing out of the jeep at school, Stiles had the urge to just turn around and run back to Peter. Allison was right there, sensing his anxiety, and leaned into his side. He leaned back, appreciating his friend. Allison had been a life saver these past few weeks. She had dived headfirst into learning how to be a wolf and it was amazing to have one of his pack members near him at all times. They helped balance and anchor each other during school and it was really nice to have another new wolf to train with. 

Lydia, as Stiles predicted, completely ignored them all day. He could tell Allison was irritated by the other girl’s behavior but Stiles had reached a level of acceptance with it by now. Before Peter and werewolves had come into his life he had played at having a crush on her just to poke at her pretending to not know he existed. The hurt had long since gone away leaving only lingering nostalgia for how things used to be. 

During Chemistry he slid in to sit by Jackson and gave the jock a quick update on the night before. Jackson just narrowed his eyes and flicked them back and forth between Lydia and Stiles for a minute. “If you are trying to pull one over on me --” 

Stiles leveled him with a flat look. “Like I wouldn’t come up with something more believable? Dude, really.” 

Jackson made a face. “Fine. Fine. Is everyone supernatural in this freaking place other than me now?” He muttered while stabbing at his notebook with a pen. 

“Careful, your green monster is showing there Jax.” When the other boy didn’t respond to his teasing, Stiles focused in and paid attention to the chemo signals coming off his frenemy. “Jax...you know Peter mostly chose Allison because of the Argent factor and she’d saved Derek. I...I told him that if you still wanted it, he should turn you.” 

Jackson swiveled in his seat to stare at Stiles in shock. “Wha..at? But then why?” 

“He said he didn’t want to risk turning anyone else right now because of how many hunters are coming into town for Kate’s funeral. But after, when they leave, he will. He does want to talk to you again though and have you hang out with us, you don’t have to be a wolf to have the pack.” 

Jackson swallowed and looked about to respond when Harris came into the room in a high dudgeon. “Stilinski!” He snapped angrily. Stiles winced, shit, not today. Harris had been particularly vicious with him lately after the teacher had been brought in for official questioning by the police and had apparently decided to take his rage out on Stiles. 

“Yes, Mr. Harris?” Stiles gave him what was hopefully a winning smile. By the look on Harris’ face he had not succeeded. 

“Jackson doesn’t need your presence destroying his good work. Go sit by McCall.” 

Stiles stiffened and shared a look with Jackson. Ever since the expulsion, school with Scott had been complicated. The only other school that Scott could have gone to in the area was an expensive private school. Melissa McCall couldn’t afford it so after a long debate, the school board had decided Scott would be allowed back in. All Scott’s classes had been shifted so that none were shared with Allison as she had gotten a restraining order against him. Stiles had almost tried to get one as well but it was decided there wasn’t enough that Scott had done to Stiles publicly for that to work. 

Thankfully, it seemed that all of this had actually subdued the teen a little. He’d been avoiding the three of them so far which was exactly what they wanted. Unfortunately, he was still playing Lacrosse, much to Jackson’s eternal annoyance. Coach had taken away the co-captain spot, however, which was the only plus side there. 

It was deeply unfortunate that Scott's expulsion had only lasted a week before the school board had saved and allowed the boy back to school. His once best friend had mostly stayed away, other than to give Allison morose looks but Stiles felt like that behavior could change any moment. Scott had been glowering at both of them from the corner since Stiles had walked into the room. A handy runestone Jennifer had given him would have kept Scott from overhearing their conversation. This had probably made his once best friend even more furious. He was about to get up and move when Jackson shocked him by speaking up. 

“Actually, Mr. Harris, I would prefer it to keep Stiles as my lab partner.” 

Harris’ face turned red. The man had a dilemma now, did he ignore Jackson and potentially piss off the District Attorney (the man who would be deciding whether or not to press charges against him) or did he let it go and not punish Stiles in that way. Stiles clamped his teeth together so he wouldn’t accidentally smile at this obvious dilemma. 

Harris finally decided to leave things as they were and instead threw constant negative comments at Stiles for the rest of class. This at least, was easy to ignore. Stiles focused on cataloging all the heartbeats in the room to match them with their unique scents instead. He had discovered this was the best way for him to work on focusing when other sounds or scents were threatening to overwhelm him. He knew Allison would start calculating how she would attack a room and the best way to take down everyone in it. He was really glad Allison was on their side. 

Jackson was another person if someone had told him two months ago that he’d be glad existed, he would have laughed in their face. The last two and half weeks had shown him that Jackson really was trying. The jock had seen something in the wolf and the pack that he wanted and was willing to go all the way to get it. It was exactly the type of drive that Peter wanted. They were just trying to make sure of the loyalty part. That Jackson had been the one to tell Peter the details about Derek’s kidnapping by the Argent’s had gone a long way in his favor. That Jackson was sticking with Stiles at school through all the rumors, had been what convinced Stiles that maybe Jackson could be a good pack member. 

By the time lunch rolled around, Stiles was starting to get more nervous again and his concentration was shot. The idea that he could die today was slowly creeping in on all his thoughts. He was getting jumpy and flinching whenever someone came into a room. Jackson and Allison dragged him into the library during lunch break so he didn’t have to be around so many people. Allison was then able to fill Jackson in on more of the details. The other boy rolled his eyes as she started in on a rant about Lydia. 

“Yeah, that’s Lydia for you. She had to follow up any kind of vulnerability or weakness with being mean to whomever saw it. That she is just ignoring you guys instead of actively sniping is actually impressive.” Jackson told Allison to the girl's outrage. 

“That’s just -- I can’t -- Ugg…” Allison huffed her way into silence and then started viciously working on her homework. Jackson and Stiles exchanged grins. It was the rare person in Beacon Hills that understood Lydia Martin. Stiles and Jackson (and maybe Danny) were the only ones who had a chance at it. 

The three of them went straight to Stiles’ house after school ended. Derek started following them almost as soon as they pulled out of the parking lot of the school. It made Stiles feel better to see it. He had his pack, this would be ok. He took a deep breath, it had to be ok. Peter had already let himself into the Stilinski house and had made camp. He had obviously been shopping as the fridge was full of food that hadn’t been there the day before and there was a mound of pillows and blankets as well as several air mattresses that Stiles knew they had not owned. 

He wrapped himself around Peter upon entering and just breathed his alpha in for a few moments. Jackson was snarking in the background about the brand of pillow and colors or something ridiculous like that but Stiles ignored him. Eventually he had to let go as Derek had come inside and pulled him off Peter so he could be pulled into a Derek hug. Derek hugs were still the most unique hug Stiles had ever experienced. The beta always came in from the side and would plaster Stiles’ arms to his sides and then breathe in and out over Stiles’ ear and neck. An addition to this ritual had been added in the past week which was Derek now biting his ear gently just before letting go. The whole thing always lasted less than a minute, sometimes even only twenty seconds. 

This time was no different but when Derek let go he moved over to do the same thing to Jackson. Stiles had to hide a grin at the surprised but pleased scent Jackson gave off when it happened. When the beta let go of Jackson, Allison pounced and wrapped herself around Derek, nuzzling into his neck before letting go and blushing. Derek, Stiles was fascinated to see, was also blushing. Jackson caught his eyes and the two of them had to immediately look away to avoid laughing. The crush that Derek and Allison had on each other but were both being oblivious too had been the best part of the past couple weeks. 

The sound of the cruiser pulling into the driveway drove all these thoughts from his head. All his anxieties about his dad and disappointing him again came flying back to the forefront of his brain. He quickly moved away from Peter to hover anxiously between the living room and the side door from the garage. The sheriff came in, took one look at him and sighed deeply. 

“All right, kid, lay it on me. Hale.” The last part was said flatly as Peter came into view. Peter at this point had stopped trying to charm the sheriff and just gave the man a thin smile before leaning against the door frame. 

“Derek and I are staying here tonight. Dinner is in the oven.” 

Stiles winced in unison with Derek at the confrontational words. He could see his dad’s hackles rising as the man glanced between the two born wolves with a dark expression. 

“Stiles. Walk outside with me.” 

He took a step forward before pausing to glance at Peter who had straightened from his slouch at the sheriff’s words. “Uh…” 

“No. Don’t look at him. I’m still your father in this situation. So, walk with me. Hale, you can stay here.” 

Torn between the desire to please two of the most important people in his life. Stiles just felt frozen with anxiety and couldn’t bring himself to make a move either way. Peter growled too low for his dad to hear and started to move towards him only for his dad to block the alpha’s way. Shit, shit, shit, Stiles tried to open his mouth to speak but nothing came up. All the panic that he had been pushing back since Lydia’s visit the night before came crashing into him. The anger he felt coming off both Peter and his dad was enough to finally push him over into a panic attack. He heard himself make a pained whimper and he started to curl up into himself. 

Distantly he heard angry voices and then Jackson’s voice ringing out over the rest of them. Doors banged and then the oppressive angry tension seemed to ease off as Derek and Allison’s scents crowded into his awareness. He shifted to bury himself deeper into their space and closed his eyes and focused on matching his breathing to Derek’s heartbeat. Slowly, he felt the panic ease away. He didn’t want to open his eyes and face everyone but he knew he had to. 

“Stiles?” Allison’s voice was soft but he appreciated that it wasn’t hesitant. 

“Yeah...I’m back...sorry.” 

Derek rumbled behind him. “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault.” 

“I should’ve just made a decision so then they --” 

“Stiles.” Allison again, her voice soft but firm. “Both Peter and your dad are putting you in an impossible situation. Forcing you to choose between your alpha and your father is essentially asking you to choose between family and pack and that is not fair of either of them.” 

Stiles went quiet, trying to internalize her words but it was hard when he remembered the anger both of them had been directing at him earlier. “I just hate it that they both get so angry about it.” 

Derek snorted behind him. “That’s because Peter is an possessive bastard on a good day and manic obsessive possessive bastard on most days. Your dad just sees a man in his thirties giving his underage son very inappropriate looks and is terrified of losing you to this. He blames Peter for all it, which to be fair, it is Peter’s fault, no don’t growl you know I’m right. Peter just sees someone trying to take away his mate and anchor.” 

Stiles felt even more miserable at that and just tried to burrow deeper into Derek. He heard Derek sigh then shift, scooping him up into a bridal hold and carrying him over to the couch. Allison followed and the two of them arranged Stiles mostly on Derek with his legs in Allison’s lap. Jackson came back in just then and meandered over to take a seat on one of the chairs. The tv turned on and Stiles just let himself drift into a light sleep and soaked in the non-angry vibes of his two (almost three) packmates. 

He woke up to the sound of the back door shutting and the spike in his senses that always happened when Peter first came into range. He focused on his alpha’s heartbeat and relaxed when he found it even. The scent coming off Peter was back to its usual pine and campfire smoke smell instead of the sharp bitter taste of ash and fire that happened when the alpha was angry. Pulling himself up he turned just as Peter came into the room. The alpha was looking cautious as he slowly approached and then knelt down to be eye level with Stiles. 

“I’m sorry. I got too caught up in my fear and desire to establish dominance that I didn’t consider what this would be doing to you.” 

Relief poured through him and he surged off Derek’s lap to wrap his arms around the alpha. Peter clung back tightly and murmured more apologies and soothing words into his ear. After a few minutes of this, Peter pulled him up and took him into the kitchen. Finishing up making dinner was a good distraction. He desperately wanted to ask where his dad went but was too afraid of the answer. 

When dinner was ready, they all sat down together and nobody said anything when Stiles moved his chair to be closer to Peter. Stiles felt himself start to relax a little bit more and soon they got back into a good rhythm. Jackson took the opportunity to complain about Scott to Peter. 

“ -- seriously, McCall has been on an increasingly high power kick ever since Coach made him co-captain. Even though Coach took away the title hasn’t helped at practice or games. You know he cornered me in the locker room yesterday to give me another fucking lecture on ‘the evil dangers of werewolves’ like the idiot isn’t one himself.” 

Peter rolled his eyes. “Deaton has never been a proponent of properly accepting yourself as one whole being, both wolf and human. He is of the modern group that believes being a werewolf is all about human nature winning out over the wolf nature. It’s utter nonsense but unfortunately as a former emissary he can make a claim for protection of Scott.” 

“I thought you needed an alpha in order to stay stable? How can Dr. Deaton provide that for him?” Allison asked, her tone curious. 

Peter flashed her an approving smile before answering. “It is possible for a wolf to maintain their stability and sanity without an alpha. It usually requires very strong emotional connections. Family is the best way for this to happen. However, it isn’t as stable as a true pack and if something disrupts or one of those people leave your life it can cause a lot of problems.” 

“Isn’t there someone you can report him to?” Jackson broke in, “I thought Stiles said something about you reporting that Deaton was taking responsibility for the idiot, so can’t you report that it’s not going well?” 

Peter grimaced. “Unfortunately, unless it goes very bad I won’t be seen as an unbiased source. If you truly think he is dangerous you should talk to your guidance counselor, Morell.” 

The three teens stared at him. Peter looked at all of them in confusion. “Surely I’ve mentioned that your guidance counselor knows of the supernatural and is a druid who is the council member assigned to this area.” At the three headshakes and Derek’s eye roll he signed. “I apologize, I should have remembered to do so earlier.” 

“That’s actually pretty great. Stiles, then we can talk to her about werewolf things and she’ll actually understand!” Allison looked like a weight might be lifting off her shoulders and Stiles couldn’t help but grin back. Thinking of a potential problem he twisted back around to look at Peter. 

“Are there pack things we shouldn’t tell her?” 

Peter hummed thoughtfully. “At the moment...no, I trust Marin, she would only speak out if she thought any of you were in danger from me. She understands this life and I have been speaking with her often in the past two weeks. She has been helping me process everything and has given me some good perspective.” 

Stiles relaxed again and smiled at Peter. “Good, that’s...good. Yeah, it would be nice to talk to someone about --” He cut himself off, remembering the nightmares that had been with him almost every night since the barn and Kate. 

Footsteps outside made them all go quiet as his dad came in again. The man took in them all at the table and Stiles looked down, he didn’t know what to do about this. 

“Noah, I owe you an apology.” Peter’s voice startled him into looking up again. “I should have contacted you earlier to let you know not only about the danger to Stiles but also to include you in the discussion of next steps. I let my pettiness get in the way of what is best for Stiles as well as your rights as his parent.” 

“Thank you, I admit that I overreacted as well. Stiles…” He looked up as his dad came over to rest a hand on his shoulder. He forced himself to relax and lean into the touch. “...I am sorry for getting angry like that. I -- “ Noah looked away and clenched his jaw. “ -- I am struggling to understand this new life of yours, but please believe me that I only want you safe and happy.” 

“I know dad, I do. I’m sorry too. It’s just been a really crappy day, it all hit me at once.” 

“Hell kid. This is all one giant shitshow…” Noah sat down in the empty chair and shook his head. “I wasn’t even supposed to be coming home tonight, had another night shift planned but _someone_ called the station and Tara sent me home with a scolding that made me feel like I was five years old again.” 

Stiles looked around the table and grinned when he saw the tips of Derek’s ears turn pink. He was just about to tease Derek but a loud bang on the door stopped him. Peter’s eyes flared red and he growled out, “Argent.” before he started to swing to his feet. Noah’s hand on the alpha’s arm stopped him. 

“Hale, let me handle this. It is my home and I am still the sheriff.” Noah stood steady in the face of the red eyed glare. 

“Peter.” Derek’s calm voice broke the stand off. “He’s right, you know he’s right.” 

Slowly, Peter nodded and sat back down. Allison had turned pale and Stiles wasn’t surprised to see Derek’s hand disappear under the table. His dad went to answer the door as another knock sounded. Jackson eyed them all before rolling his eyes and going after the sheriff. At Stiles’ questioning noise he hissed, “Not all of us have freaky super hearing Stilinski.” 

The sound of his dad’s voice cut off any reply he might have made. “Mr. Argent, what can I do for you this evening.” 

“I am here to talk to my daughter.” 

“I believe Allison has made her feelings on this subject very clear the last several times you have come over.” 

The wolves could all hear Argent’s heartbeat spike slightly and the sound of the man shifting on the front step. “Kate’s funeral is tomorrow and --” 

“I don’t see how that changes anything for Allison and if you expect to get any sympathy from me in regards to your sister I can show you the scars my teenage son still has.” 

Argent’s voice faltered somewhat. “I...but he’s --” 

“A werewolf? Yes, but apparently if one uses the right combination of wolfsbane, mistletoe and hyssop on a knife blade it can leave lasting scars. Even on a werewolf. Not exactly the type of introduction I needed to this world, seeing my only remaining family member bleeding out in front of me from poisonous wounds.” His dad’s voice was hard and unflinching and they all could hear the hunter’s heart spike again. Stiles glanced at Peter and grinned when he saw the reluctantly impressed look on the alpha’s face. 

“I am sorry for your pain and for what was done to Stiles. As I assured you before this behavior is not acceptable to me or my wife. We are both just worried about Allison with her being -- “ Argent’s voice cut off again and there was a beat of silence before the sheriff started to speak. 

“No, please, finish what you were going to say. Being with? Being with my son? Or Derek Hale? Peter Hale? I assure you that I would trust any of them over you or your wife. Words don’t mean shit. When you stop seeing my son and the Hales as monsters let me know and we can talk then.” 

“I see.” 

An uncomfortable silence fell. The hunter didn’t move and his dad seemed to be done with the conversation. Peter raised an eyebrow in question to Allison. She nodded slowly and got up. Derek kept hold of her hand and shot her a worried look. 

“You don’t have to.” He said quietly. 

“I know, but if he or any of my family has something to do with Lydia’s -- well, I should try and find out.” 

Derek reluctantly let go and Allison moved out of the kitchen. Stiles shifted in his seat feeling nervous as well. None of the Argent’s were aware yet of Allison taking the bite and they were all keen on keeping it that way as long as possible. Nobody was sure on the exact reaction but they knew it would not be a good one. He shuffled over to press into Peter who was quick to put an arm around his waist and hold him close. He just had to keep believing in his pack and his dad. Together they would keep everyone safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allison POV will be up next and we start to get into some of the inciting incidents of the story. :) This will be a fairly slow build compared to my others stories as I have realized doing three main POVs means I have to take longer to establish character and where they are all at. 
> 
> Still planning on posting weekly, it's giving me enough time to stay ahead of myself and also go back and edit chapters I've written.


	3. Chapter 3

Allison kept half her attention on Derek’s heartbeat as she moved her way to stand behind the sheriff. As frustrated as she was with the man sometimes, she truly did appreciate his ardent defense of her and Stiles. The man loved his son and had been very kind to her in these insane few weeks. Keeping her head high and her hands from trembling she was proud when her voice came out steady. 

“Dad.” 

“Allison.” He made a hesitant motion forward but paused. He looked exhausted. It looked like he hadn’t shaved in the past couple weeks since she had seen him at the hospital and his eyes had lines under them. His arm was out of the sling but he still carried it carefully. She had to blink back tears. She wished it didn’t hurt so much, finding out all these things about her family. It ached in a way so deep within her that some days she wasn’t sure she could breathe through the pain. 

“It’s ok, Sheriff, I can talk to him.” 

“Are you sure?” At her nod, he backed away and gestured inside. Her dad paused and eyed the indoors warily, his eyes flicked between the parked cars in the driveway and her. 

She steeled her resolve and said, “You can either talk to me in here or not at all.” 

Slowly, her father nodded and he made his way inside. Noah gripped her briefly on the shoulder then ambled back into the kitchen. She walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. Her dad followed and after briefly hesitating sat down as well. He went to lean over his knees but winced and sat back. 

“Are you ok?” She looked at him worriedly. 

He gave her a crooked smile. “Still recovering but the doctors say I should regain full movement. Are...are you ok?” 

She tried to give him a smile but by the look on his face she was pretty sure she’d failed. “Physically, I’m fine. Kate didn’t -- well, she didn’t hurt me as much.” 

“Good, that’s good. The doctors wouldn’t tell me anything about it and I was worried not knowing…” 

She winced and looked down. “I’m sorry I didn’t reach out at all. I’ve just been processing everything and I didn’t know what to say. I just keep seeing Kate dig into --” She cut herself off remembering at the last moment that the wolves were all in the kitchen and could hear her. 

“I’m sorry. That was a terrible way to discover the truth. I understand why you reacted as you did, especially since Stiles was your friend. I hope someday you can understand why we didn’t tell you.” 

She looked up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

For a moment she thought he wouldn’t answer. His face had gone still and no emotion came through. His scent had turned bitter with pain and she was pretty sure it wasn’t his arm causing it. Haltingly he started speaking. 

“I was a child when I found out about the existence of werewolves. Gerard woke me up in the middle of the night. Blind folded me and then brought me out to an abandoned cabin in the woods and tied me to a chair. When he took off the blindfold I saw a feral werewolf in a cage. There was a timer on a lock and he told me that I had one hour to escape the chair or the werewolf would get free and eat me. I sat there and struggled and screamed, trying to escape. I didn’t get out, the cage door opened and I was sure I was going to die.” He paused and Allison stared at him in horror. Distantly she heard Stiles swear and Derek growl. Her dad clenched his fist tight and looked back at her. 

“There was a circle of mountain ash around me and it slammed into it. I had to sit there for the rest of the night with the werewolf snarling and raging at me, trying to push its way through the barrier. I eventually got free which is when I discovered the gun taped to the bottom of the chair.” Looking away again, he took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m not sure how many more hours passed before I found the courage to shoot the werewolf. It felt like an eternity. It took me every single bullet and the extra clip to finally kill it.”

Silence settled over them, Allison could feel tears on her face. Finally she found her voice to ask, “How...how old…?” 

“I was ten years old.” 

“Dad…” She whispered. Shock and horror were giving into anger and she had to close her own eyes and clench her fists to push back the shift threatening to take over. 

“It’s why I kept you so far away from him. And how I was able to convince your mother to wait to tell you and train you. I didn’t...Allison...I never wanted you to be forced to live this life. I hoped that you would be old enough that when Kate or Gerard tried anything you would be able to walk away from it all. Please, Allison, I can give you money and you can leave here. You can disappear.” His voice had gotten desperate and she looked up again at him and was startled to see tears in his eyes. 

For a brief moment she wished she could. She wished she could give him this and be able to walk away and leave all this behind. But then she felt the warmth of the pack bond settled within her and tuned into the three heartbeats that she was coming to know as well as her own. She wanted this with all her being. This felt so right to be here and to belong to this. 

“I’m sorry, dad, I...I can’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still be family, right? You don’t have to stay a hunter. Dad...you can stop hunting…” She trailed off as he shook his head. He looked devastated and she had to hold back more tears. 

“It’s too late for me. It’s still not too late for you, think about it, ok?” 

She began to feel angry again. “Why? Why is it too late for you? You can just ignore it all and walk away just like you are asking me to do.” 

“He’s not asking you to walk away, he’s asking you to run and hide.” Peter’s voice startled both of them and her dad leapt to his feet, reaching for a gun that wasn’t there. Turning back and looking at the alpha she saw a look of what was almost pity on his face.

Continuing to walk into the room to stand behind her, Peter continued talking. “There are no other female Argents left. It isn’t just Gerard that would be expectations of your role but your great Aunt Isabelle as well. Isn’t that right Christopher?” 

Her dad glared at the werewolf. “You have no right to talk about these things to her.” 

Peter leaned a hip against her chair and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t I? You don’t seem to be doing a very good job at explaining things.” Turning to look down at her he went on. “The Argent hunting line is Matriarchal. That means the leader is always a woman. Your great aunt is the current Matriarch but none of the Argent’s left living had daughters except for Gerard and your father. The expectation would be that you would take up this mantle.” 

Allison sat there and tried to absorb this. Finally she looked at her dad again. “So you want me to run so they can’t force me to do this? Is that what this is about?” 

He glanced away, his jaw was clenched and anger was filling the air but also...fear. He was afraid. “Yes. Gerard already is angry you are not at home and has been making comments about needing to show you the true colors of the mons -- werewolves. I hoped I could convince you to leave and then I would stay here and distract him.” 

“He would kill you for this.” Peter’s words were flat and factual but they still cut through her like ice. 

“No.” A horrible thought entered her mind and she got up and took a hesitant step towards her dad. “Dad...if I don’t come back to hunting will he hurt you? Is he planning on forcing me?” 

Her father winced. “If you were younger I would for sure know how he planned on going about it. As it is...I don’t know. Isabelle has expressed her extreme displeasure at him for his failure with Kate. She’s furious that Kate would have been so stupid to kill a pack like the Hales. Word about what she did is getting out in the community and many other hunter groups that are under Argent's territory are having trouble with the packs they have treaties with. Gerard is desperate to have a win to prove that he is still worthy of his position.” 

“Why does he care so much about me? I still don’t understand, even if I am the only Argent woman it shouldn’t matter that --” 

“It matters. Allison, it matters a great deal. This all has to do with our history...it’s almost a miracle I was able to keep you out of the knowledge for as long as I did. I made an agreement with Isabelle to wait until you graduated highschool. She agreed as an experiment because even then we saw how Gerard’s ways of teaching were breaking Kate.” 

Rage almost choked her. “An experiment? That’s what I was to you?” 

He moved forward and reached for her. “No...no...Allison...you are my daughter. I just wanted you to have the choice. I’ve been planning on a way to get you away from this since you were born. I had to make concessions. It’s why you were trained in gymnastics, archery and martial arts.” 

Hugging herself she backed up, her thoughts in turmoil. She tried to take in her dad more fully and read what his body language and scent was telling her. Like she had noticed earlier, he was exhausted and there was a slight tremor to his hands. He looked old...She wanted so badly just to throw herself into his arms and let herself forget everything else going on but it was impossible right now. Her only hope for him was...maybe…

“Why can’t you leave? You could join me, here, we have the sheriff on our side, he could keep you safe from Gerard. We could --” 

“They won’t let us. I...they don’t let you.” 

“Why? Why am I so important? Aren’t there other male Argents out there that could have girls? What’s so important about me?”

Her dad winced but didn’t respond. About to push harder, she stopped at Peter’s low laugh. Her dad glared daggers at the werewolf who had come back up to stand next to her. “Come, Christopher, share with the class. What’s so important that has gotten you this afraid? I can hear your heart pounding...how far would they really go to get their heir back? Why is one teenager worth so much?” 

Her dad shook his head. “Back off Hale. This has nothing to do with you. It’s hunter business.” 

“But it has everything to do with me? Right?” Allison said, challenging him with her stare. 

Her father finally seemed to cave. “It...Marie Jeanne Valet...she was the first Argent. It is told through our history that in times of great need she will be reborn to lead the Argent’s to a new age.” 

Feeling confused she looked at Peter and saw shock on his face. “Allison?” He said, in a whisper. 

“I don’t understand. What do you mean reborn?” 

Her father wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Not everyone in the family believes it but the matriarchs who were all born under the sign of the blood moon, they have all done amazing things.” 

“This is why they think I’m important? They think I’m some reincarnation of the first Argent? That’s...I’m me, I’m my own person.” 

“Regardless, they see you as important and Gerard especially saw this as his sacred duty. It was only due to Isabelle intervening that kept him away from you. But now, with Kate, you are eighteen and staying with a werewolf. Gerard has permission to do whatever he needs to do.” 

Allison struggled to wrap her mind around this. It all seemed insane. Peter was standing there, eyes far away and she could almost feel his mind working. “This isn’t why you said yes right? Please tell me you didn’t know this before…” 

“No.” He broke in quickly and reached out to grip the back of her neck. 

“Get your hands off my daughter.” 

Her dad was furious but Peter ignored him to meet her gaze. “No, I will not deny I knew you were the last female but I had no idea about the rest. I knew the Argent clan believed that occasional Marie-Jeanne would be reborn but I had no idea they thought it was you. I said yes because your loyalty and strength is exactly what I needed in my pack. I chose you for yourself, Allison, not your family name.” 

Letting the tension bleed out of her, she nodded to him and turned back to look at her dad. She flinched as she did so. He was looking at her with horror now. “Dad…” She made a step towards him but his flinch backwards made her freeze in place. 

“No…” he whispered, looking at her then Peter. “No. How dare you. Is this your revenge? To punish me, to turn my daughter into a --” 

Peter had him slammed against the wall by his throat in an instant. The alpha’s eyes were blazing and a low growl was reverberating throughout the room. Forcing down all the pain deep inside herself she walked closer to them trembling with rage. 

“A monster?” She snarled at him. She was feeling like the world was spinning out of control all over again. Knowing how her family would react was much different than seeing it in front of her. It was this moment that she knew that a part of her had been hoping that her dad of all the family might still love her. 

“Hale.” Noah was back in the room, along with everyone else. Derek’s warmth against her back allowed her to breathe again. “Hale,” The sheriff repeated, “you need to let him go.” 

Slowly, Peter backed away. Her father, no, Chris, her vision started to blur with tears as he looked at her with devastation written all over his face. “Allison…” His voice cracked. 

“Is that what you were about to say?” She asked him. Please say no her heart cried at him but he stayed silent for a moment too long just looking at her, broken and small. She clenched her eyes shut and willed back the tears. No. She would not let him see her break. Opening them again she stalked forward, intentionally letting her eyes turn gold. 

“I chose this. Me, not Peter, not Derek or Stiles. Me. I wanted this to prove to everyone that there is at least one Argent that will not let the ignorance and fear go on unchallenged. An Argent destroyed the Hale pack and an Argent will help build it. You do not get to put the blame on anyone else, you can’t pass this off on Peter. And you know what, dad? You raised me like this. You raised me to pursue justice and to know my own mind while mom and Kate were on me constantly to conform to what they wanted. You were the one to tell me to know myself and choose for myself.” 

She had to stop, she was shaking now from anger and she took a step back to breathe deep and weather the tidal wave of emotions crashing all over her. Her body felt raw with the pain and rage coursing through it. Taking a deep breath she met his eyes again. 

“But it was all to force me to choose what you wanted for me, wasn’t it? In your quest to make me not a hunter you didn’t take a moment to think that just maybe I wanted to make that choice as well. It’s too late now. I’ve picked my path and if you want to be in my life then you should take a long hard look at the beliefs that led us both here.” Breaking her eyes away from her father’s, she looked at Peter and nodded. The alpha turned to let Chris go. She refused to look at him again, choosing instead to look at her pack. 

“Allison…I don’t know how...Hale, you don’t know what you’ve done, they won’t accept this. They will come for you when they find out.” 

Peter shrugged. “They were already coming. Gerard is already here. It’s done now, Christopher and you can either live up to your fancy words about loving your daughter or you can slink back to daddy and help him try to kill her. Your choice.” 

“I have to think. I have to make some calls. Please keep her safe. Don’t let Gerard or Victoria know. Allison -” 

A low growl interrupted him but not from Peter. Stiles’ voice was harsh as he stepped up so their shoulders touched. “You heard her. Accept it, accept her or leave.” Silence, then footsteps and the front door opening then shutting. Stiles caught her as she collapsed into sobs. Her friend held her tightly as everything came crashing down in waves as the adrenaline left her body. 

Stiles guided her to the couch and she couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her. “I guess this is just our designated place to go when you have a panic attack today.” 

Stiles laughed and pulled her in for a tight hug. “Guess so. Wow has today been insane. Found out that banshees are a thing and I’m apparently going to die tonight. Allison is the reincarnated version of the first werewolf hunter. What’s next? Jax, you got any massive truth bombs you want to drop on us?” 

“I wish I did. I think Peter should just go kill Gerard and the rest of those fuckers now by the way if anyone cares about my opinion.” 

“What an excellent idea.” 

“No. No.” The sheriff broke into the conversation. “I know this has all been a massive shock of an evening but no one is going out to kill anyone tonight. Got it? We need more information before acting.” 

“As sad as I am to admit it, the good sheriff is correct. We don’t know enough yet. And while I agree with Christopher that Gerard would come after Allison after learning of her change. I’m not convinced Isabelle will. She’ll be angry to be sure but it’s more likely she’ll give it up for a lost cause. Punish Gerard or Christopher for the failure and move on.” 

“Great, let’s send her a video of Allison changing and maybe she’ll take care of our hunter problem.” Stiles said this with fake cheer. Derek snorted and the sheriff and Peter both made pained noises. She found herself giggling again, this was all just so surreal. 

“Also,” Peter said, ignoring Stiles, “I wouldn’t call Allison a reincarnation. I believe the legend has more to do with the time someone was born and the general looks of the person. They all aren’t exact replicas of each other or I would have heard of that.” 

After the sheriff was assured once again that Peter had no intention of running out to kill all the hunters in town. Stiles made them all start a movie together. Part of Allison wondered if Noah was pack but the side eyed looks Noah and Peter were still giving each other quickly crossed that idea out of her mind. She felt drained and exhausted. Stiles had hovered over her, making her drink water, then chocolate which turned into him making chocolate cookies with marshmallows that Peter kept giving dubious looks to. 

After the cookies were finished, Stiles had settled down to cuddle with her on the couch which everyone seemed to be fine about. Jackson declared as the only emotionally stable one of the group he got to pick the movie which led to a rousing debate between him and Stiles on the merits of super heroes vs. action movies. Allison just let herself drift and tried to remember how much she was accepted by the people here. Stiles ending nodding off not too long into the movie which surprised no one and Derek managed to wriggle him off her to bring him upstairs without waking him. 

Eventually they all wandered off to bed or home (in Jackson’s case) and Allison managed to get upstairs ahead of what she was expecting to be a whole lot of awkward tension between Noah and Peter. The sheriff had been giving the alpha unreadable looks the whole night while Peter just serenely sat there. She wished that the two of them could come to some sort of understanding. This tension was going to be the death of them all. 

She settled into bed but found it difficult to fall asleep. Her dad’s face wouldn’t leave her mind. The absolute horror and devastation when he realized she was a werewolf had broken her heart in ways she didn’t realize it could. Somewhere inside herself she had been hoping that he would accept her still, that he would understand and love her no matter what. She turned over and shoved her face into the pillow. She would not cry about this again. He had chosen his path and she had chosen hers. She didn’t regret taking the bite and joining this pack. 

She wasn’t sure how long she had laid there but at some point she realized she was drifting in and out of a haze. Why was it so hard to think? She tried to push out her senses but for some reason she couldn’t hear anything beyond the slow beat of her heart. Why was her heart so slow? Trying to take a deep breath the air seemed to freeze in her lungs as pain stung in her throat. Gasping and hacking she struggled to get out of the bed. Panic started to fill her, something was very wrong. 

There was a crash downstairs and suddenly the panic bond flared with panic, fear, death. Frantic she heaved herself out of the bed and stumbled out to the hall. “Stiles.” Her voice came out hoarse and it hurt to speak. She practically fell into her friend’s room. “Stiles.” He was lying on the bed and looked like he was in agony. Grabbing him roughly she shook him. “Stiles.” Oh thank the gods, his eyes snapped open and he gasped and started coughing. Grabbing his wrist she managed to pull him out of the bed and drag him out of the room. The fear and panic was still throbbing through the pack bond and she really didn’t want to know what would make Peter this afraid. 

The two of them managed to stumble down the stairs only to stop in horror at the smoke and flames spreading rapidly in the front room. Peter and Derek were up though Derek looked barely conscious. Peter’s eyes were blazing as he pulled his nephew away from the fire. Seeing the two of them he growled. “Kitchen. Now.” Nodding she kept gripping Stiles’ wrist and hauled him into the kitchen followed closely by Peter. 

Leaning Stiles against the table she frantically grabbed at the kitchen towels and doused them in water from the sink. Peter wrenched the back door open only to snarl and wrench backwards as he hit something on the other side. “Mountain ash.” He said while stumbling backwards. The red light had left his eyes and his face when he looked at Allison was terrified. Her whole body felt like ice had washed over it. No. Not this. 

“Noah?” She managed to get out. The smoke was billowing now and her eyes were stinging. Peter shook his head. 

“Got a call, went out not long ago.” 

She bit back a whimper and frantically looked around for the large pots. Her mind was getting clearer but the fear was only growing. 

“Peter?” Stiles looked more awake now but still not completely aware. Peter just growled as he moved over to wrap an arm about him. 

“What do we do?” She asked. The fire was coming closer with every second. The whole room was filled with smoke making her eyes sting and her already aching throat worse. Peter turned dark eyes towards the open back door again and snarled. Bracing himself, the alpha flung his body at the barrier. It shimmered and he gave a howl of pain but threw himself at it again and again. Frantically she finished wetting the towels and wrapped one around Derek’s face and then Stiles’ before starting to pour as much water as she could over everything in the kitchen. It all felt so useless as the flames were licking at the door frame. 

Peter was gasping as he hit the barrier one more time and slumped to ground. She knew she was crying but couldn’t stop herself. She pulled Derek as close to the door as possible. His eyes were clouded and his breathing rough and frantic. Stiles was next and Peter wrapped himself around him shuddering as he did so. Standing there, she had never felt so helpless in her life, as she looked at the flames and closed her eyes. 

A scream tore through the air.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as someone pointed out in the comments last chapter, I forgot that in How It's Meant to Be that I had Scott expelled from Beacon Hills and then had him at school in this story. Oops. I edited the last chapter to include a line saying he was unexpelled. The same reader helped me come up with a great solution to my problem so it will be explained more in a future chapter. Sorry if it caused anyone else confusion! 
> 
> I don't have a beta for my works and it's in remembering all the details that I feel the lack. Working at hopefully getting a better resource document going so it doesn't happen again.

Lydia didn’t remember how she had gotten here or what she had even been doing before. Her last memory was of shutting her bedroom door with the intent on working on homework. The next moment she was standing in front of a burning house with an itch in the back of her throat. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized whose house this was. She scrambled to pull out her phone as the scream rose up and caught itself between one breath and the next. Closing her eyes tight she held it in until the pressure became too unbearable to manage. 

The air seemed to freeze as her scream ripped out of her and reverberated around the houses. Her vision narrowed into the house in front of her. Whispers flew through the air around her and she grabbed her ears in a futile attempt to block them out. Blinking back tears she realized she knew without a doubt that there were four still living people inside. She also knew they were all about to die. Stumbling towards the house she felt rage burning through her. How dare this thing inside of her bring her here to feel people die. 

She moved towards the house, still not sure if she was completely awake. The front sides were engulfed in flames. She got as close as she could before the burning heat made her stop. Something shimmered in the air outside the house. A distant part of her brain whispered something to her and she stretched out a hand to touch it. It was like touching water, it rippled away from her touch and she instantly that it circled the entire house. Pressing her palm flat against it she closed her eyes and let all the whispers around her rush inside her at once.

It was overwhelming. A thousand voices seemed to converge on her. Gasping, she almost collapsed and only stayed standing by sheer will power. This would not defeat her. Slowly, the whispers made sense. It was grim knowledge to know that Stiles was still inside. She felt his life force flickering like a candle almost burnt out. Snapping her eyes back open she instinctively clenched her fist before opening it and flung her hand flat out towards the ground. The voices roared around her in a whirlwind and stopped completely. It was as if her ears had popped and suddenly she could hear again. 

The heat from the fire intensified and she jumped back. The world seemed to focus and become real. People were shouting and a hand was on her arm. She screamed a normal scream and tried to wrench away but the hand was insistent on pulling her away from the house. Turning she saw a terrified face of one of the neighbors. She scrambled backwards with him now but couldn’t tear her eyes away from the burning house. Sirens were wailing as a police cruiser came flying up, close behind was a fire truck. 

Noah Stilinski tore out of the cruiser, his face ashen. “Has anyone seen Stiles? Did anyone come out of the house?” He called out and started to move forward only to be blocked by a deputy. 

“Sir, the flames are too much, you know you can’t go in there.” 

“My son is in there! Let me go.” 

Lydia backed away further, feeling hollow inside. She felt numb. There was really nothing she could do to stop this, could she? Would this be her life now? Someone started shouting down the street but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. The firemen were starting to spray down the houses on either side of the one on fire. 

A voice shouted to her side. “Stiles!” 

She whipped her head around and gasped in relief. Stumbling around and through the falling water were four figures. The sheriff tore out of his deputy’s grasp and raced over to them. Others followed and soon they had all four of them over by the ambulance which had just arrived. Lydia slipped through the crowd and came as close as she could. She just needed to be sure. 

Peter Hale was practically carrying Stiles while Allison was supporting Derek. Stiles’ eyes met hers and he stood up to stumble towards her. Before anyone could stop her she moved forward and flung her arms around him. He fell into her coughing but he was alive and even through the smoke and ash, a hug had never felt so good. EMTs swarmed them and ushered him away. She trembled in place. He was alive, he had been meant to die and she had stopped it. How had she stopped this? 

Events moved quickly after that. Peter Hale took charge and said the four of them smelled the smoke and fire and managed to get out of the back door with minimal problems and then kept moving back towards the woods until they heard the sirens and people. Lydia watched with a little bit of awe as Peter artfully manipulated the situation to keep them from going to the hospital. 

By that time the firemen were confident that the fire wouldn’t spread to any of the other houses and were just monitoring Stilinski's house, waiting for it to burn out. Now that the sheriff was sure his son was all right he just watched the house, something akin to grief on his face. It made her deeply uncomfortable to see someone she had always pictured and known as a pillar of strength. Looking away from the sheriff she found herself meeting Peter’s assessing gaze. Not feeling up to dealing with him, she looked away and down. 

Now that everyone was safe she felt like her skin was crawling with the need to get out of there. Thankfully, everyone was too distracted to ask her why she was there or care that much. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to find out that she had shown up at a fire. Nightmares and screaming herself awake were one thing. Sleep driving herself to burning buildings would be sure to end her up in some sort of psych ward. The very idea of it made her heart clench painfully. Her mother’s ability to ignore problems was vast but if only if these problems were able to stay hidden. 

Feeling grateful that her car had ended up not being boxed in by firetrucks or other law enforcement officers she slowly started to move away. She had made it almost to the edge of the chaos when she felt another presence slide in next to her. Stiffening she threw a glare at Peter Hale. 

“What?” She snapped out but made sure to keep her voice quiet. 

“I can’t say thank you for saving the lives of my pack and myself?” The man kept his voice equally as quiet. 

She stopped moving. “I didn’t --” 

He scoffed, “Please, Lydia, you are smart enough to know that you did even if you have no idea how.” 

She just stood there, hoping that her terror wouldn’t show on her face. Collecting herself, she gave him her sweetest smile. “I was simply here to check in with Allison. I have no idea what you are talking about otherwise.” He threw back his head and laughed at her. She clenched her fist and fought not to glare at him. No one had ever laughed when she gave them that look. 

“That was perfectly done, you are very good at this sort of thing, aren’t you? It must really be terrifying for something to happen to you that you can’t control.” He was smirking at her now while her insides were turning to ash. “You’ve built your whole life around control, haven’t you? Control your image, your voice, your smile. Learned how to portray exactly what people want to see because you think that’s what you need to do for them to love you.” 

She glared now and bit out coldly as possible, “You have no idea who I am or any right to speak to me like this.” 

He idled further up into her space, his eyes gleamed red for a moment and her mouth went dry. All her instincts were screaming at her to run, run now and get as far away as possible. “Then tell me, are you loved? Did it work? Or maybe, the first time someone has genuinely thanked you for something in a very long time, you try to deny the very part of you that caused it.” 

Not being able to stand looking at him anymore she stared down at the ground. Something in his words was breaking something inside her and she didn’t know how to stop it. “You don’t understand.” She finally whispered. Cool fingers lifted her chin up to meet his eyes again. His gaze had softened now. 

“Oh, Lydia, you have no idea how much I understand. You can’t fight this, you know you can’t. The more you fight it the more you’ll end up in places like this. I can help you if you join my pack.” 

She flinched away. “No.” 

“Yes. You know you need to.” 

“Yesterday you said --” 

“That was before hunters tried to burn us all alive. You were drawn here tonight not by accident but because your magic has already decided Stiles is your pack. It will continue to draw you to him and the only way to keep yourself and him safe is for you to join us completely.” His face had turned hard again and though his voice was soft, there was no doubting the steel behind it. 

Feeling helpless, she shook her head again. “No. No. No. Please...I...No.” Turning around she fled to her car. He didn’t follow her again so she quickly got it turned on and made her way home. Sneaking inside was easy but she was too keyed up to sleep so she took a shower, hoping to relax herself. It didn’t work. Pacing around her room, all her senses felt on edge. There was a jitteriness to her movements that she had never experienced before. She finally sat down on the floor and rested her head in her hands and cried. She felt so lost. Everything she had worked so hard to build was crumbling. 

Walking into school later that morning, Lydia was determined to put everything weird behind her. She didn’t know why Stiles still had this hold over her when it had been so long since he’d been one of the most important people in her life. Just lingering nostalgia, she told herself firmly as she snagged Emily by the arm to walk into class together. Emily lit up at the attention so Lydia rewarded the girl with a secret smile and leaned in to whisper. 

“Did you hear about the sheriff’s house being burned down last night?” 

Emily’s eyes got wide. “No…” 

Lydia adopted a concerned facial expression. “Yes. I heard it might have been payback by the Argent’s. You know the funeral is today for Allison’s crazy aunt of course.” Emily quickly nodded. “And Allison’s grandfather is in town. I heard…” She looked around as if she was telling the other girl a secret. Emily leaned in, wide eyed. 

“You heard…?” 

“I heard that the grandfather might be just as crazy as the aunt. Like he taught her to do what she did.” 

“No…” Emily breathed out. 

Lydia nodded seriously and continued. “It’s just lucky that the sheriff and his son are ok. But the whole family might be insane. I don’t know why they are allowed to stay here.” 

Before Emily could respond, Katie flopped in the desk next to Lydia and leaned in. “Are you talking about the sheriff’s house? Of course Lydia would already know about it.” 

Lydia nodded. “Yes, and about the Argent’s.” 

Katie frowned for a moment but then her eyes lit up. “Because the sheriff killed Kate?” She whispered over the aisle. 

Lydia only had time to nod before the teacher came in and conversation had to stop for the time being. She kept feeding the gossip train for the rest of the day. Reminding everyone about the Hale fire and wasn’t it suspicious that Gerard Argent arrived in town and then the sheriff’s house went up into flames. Katie, whose father was the fire chief, ended up being her staunchest ally in this theory. The fire chief had told his family that morning that there had been no doubt in his mind that the fire had been set. 

By lunch, Lydia was sure that the entire school was united in their belief of the Argent’s being guilty for almost killing the sheriff and Stiles. She felt incredibly smug as she sat in her usual position at the lunch table. By now, no one would even realize that she had started this rumor as it had been passed on by so many other people. All she needed to do was act startled and feed the flames. She was calculating out the best way to get this gossip train into the minds of the Beacon Hill adults when Jackson slipped in to sit next to her. The whole table fell silent and stared at the two of them. 

She cursed to herself but put on a face of quiet disdain. She would not let any gossip about her and Jackson eclipse the Argent’s today. “Yes?” She said, in her sweetest voice. 

He smirked at her. “I heard about the fire.” 

She widened her eyes. “I know. Isn’t it terrible?” 

He nodded seriously as his eyes flicked around the table. “I hear the prevailing theory is that the Argent’s are guilty. Well...I happened to be over at Stilinski's last night when Chris Argent came by to yell at the sheriff.” 

Suddenly the entire table was leaning on Jackson’s every word. Lydia pushed down the tiny bit of annoyance at losing the attention of the table. It was more important to cement the Argent family’s guilt right now. The sooner those nutjobs were gone, the sooner she should hopefully be able to put this whole mess behind her. 

“Chris came by because he’s blaming the Sheriff and Stiles was turning Allison against the family. He basically disowned her right there when she refused to come to the funeral or have anything to do with the family. He was pretty pissed, made some threats against the Sheriff.” 

“Poor Allison…” Emily said on the other side of the table. 

Lydia had to bite down on her lip to keep herself from saying something scathing. As much as she didn’t want Allison’s continued presence here anymore, she knew the girl wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. There were murmurs of sympathy from around the table towards Allison dealing with her crazy family.

“Lydia? Could I talk to you for a minute. Privately.” Jackson said. 

Knowing the whole table was now staring at them. Lydia gave him a razor thin smile. “Of course.” 

Jackson led her to the currently unused music room. “I just wanted to apologize for how I treated you when I dumped you. I was a complete jerk. Even with what you did with McCall you didn’t deserve that.” 

She stared at her ex-boyfriend somewhat in shock. “I...what?” 

He grimaced. “That’s fair. Look. I know what you did to help Stiles.” 

Her blood ran cold. “What.” She hissed at him. 

“I’m working on joining their pack so they updated me yesterday. That’s also how I saw Chris Argent with Allison last night. Good work by the way, getting the whole school to blame the Argent’s for the fire in one morning.” 

For the first time in a long time she was struggling with how to ask Jackson something. Her composure was threatening to crumble for the third time in less than two days. She didn’t know how to play this new game she had been thrust into. Knowing her face was showing her true feelings, she quickly looked away. 

Jackson sighed. “Peter is an asshole and terrifying as fuck but he is also rabid in defense of his pack. You saved Stiles’ life and by doing so earned his respect. I’ve been trying to get his respect for over a month and I feel like he still barely tolerates me some days.” 

“I don’t know what you want me to say. I want nothing to do with any of this. I just want all of it to go away and for things to go back to normal.” 

“It’s not going to work like that and you know it, Lydia. Even if there are no more Argent’s you are still going to have the same magic in you.” 

She flinched at the word magic. “It’s so insane. I can’t believe you want to be a part of this insanity. Magic...Jackson, do you realize how crazy that is?” 

“More crazy than werewolves? I want to be a part of this because it’s so much more than anything else can give me. I get people who won’t betray me and will have my back no matter what. I know you don’t trust anyone, not even me. Stiles was the only one besides yourself that I think you ever trusted.” 

“It’s not safe to trust people. I thought that was something we both agreed upon.” 

“I did think that...but I realized I don’t want to keep believing that. I don’t think you do either.” 

She shook her head. “Jackson...I...can’t. Ok...I just.” To her shame she felt tears welling up in her eyes. “I realized I was trusting you and I panicked and ruined it with Scott. I can’t do this, I’ll ruin it too. Allison rightly hates me and Stiles should hate me. So should you. Nobody loves for free Jackson, that’s something I had to learn as a kid. You always have to be something to them for them to love you. I’m not willing to be what they want me to be.” 

Before he could respond she walked away and out of the door. Thankfully, the table accepted that he just wanted to apologize. She added that he tried to get back together with her but laughed it off. She managed to then get everyone quickly back on the topic of the Argents and laid some good hints about what they should tell their parents about it. Hopefully soon it would be all the town could talk about and the Argents would need to move elsewhere. She smiled, even with horrific dreams and strange things happening to her, she was still the queen of Beacon Hills. 

Scott cornered her just as school ended. When she realized that he had actually stopped to talk to her she narrowed her eyes at him. While she would never admit it to anyone else, Scott had been a mistake. She had let herself get petty because she had been so unexpectedly rattled by Jackson breaking up with her. Her pettiness had almost cost her too much. Stiles' verbal smackdown was still whispered about no matter how many other pieces of gossip she had put out there to distract them. Hopefully, this Argent news would finally eclipse it. 

She gave the boy an annoyed loom and refused to be led into somewhere private. She’d managed to avoid being alone with him for the past three weeks and was not about to break that on today of all days. No reason to give the gossips anything more to think about when all they should be concentrating on was the Argent family. 

“What?” She said, impatiently when he hadn’t spoken up in the first twenty seconds. 

“I heard what Jackson said to you earlier and I don’t know what you know or what Stiles has told you but you need to stay away from Peter.” The teen said this all in a rush, voice low and urgent. She narrowed her eyes at him. 

“You heard? How?” 

He looked startled. “Oh I thought you’d know if you know about Stiles and Peter. We can hear better than normal people.” 

“That doesn’t make it ok to listen in on private conversations.” She was going from mildly annoyed to irritated now. 

He frowned at her. “But Jackson is trying to get the bite from Peter and if they are trying to involve you in their pack then you are in danger from them as well.” 

“So? Why is that any of your business?” Irritation was going to give way to anger soon if this idiot didn’t explain better. 

Scott just looked confused now. “Well of course it is, this is my calling now, to help people. I was given these abilities for a reason, Peter didn’t know it when he bit me but I’m going to be the only one that can stop him.” She opened her mouth to respond but the teen rushed on. “Peter has this way of pulling people in and tricking them. Dr. Deaton says that when Peter bit Stiles he must have done something different which is how he has been able to keep such a strong hold over Stiles. I don’t know yet how they have influenced Allison but I’m pretty sure it’s just Peter manipulating everything and Stiles to get what he wants. You just need to stay away from them so he doesn’t get a hold of you too.” 

“Scott,” Lydia said slowly, “are you claiming that Peter Hale is somehow using magic to mind control Stiles and Allison into following him?” 

Scott nodded seriously, “Yes. There’s no other explanation as to why they are being this way. Stiles even brought Jackson to Peter. Now Peter’s just playing with Jackson. Deaton says he’s always been like this, just seeing others as play things for his amusement. Deaton thinks it might be too late for Stiles but not for Allison and you’re her best friend so it makes sense Peter would want to get to you to help him get a stronger hold on her.” 

“I don’t know what school you’ve been attending over the past several weeks but I am definitely not Allison’s best friend.” Lydia was one hundred percent done with this conversation now. Leveling Scott with her perfected ‘you are but a bug to me’ look, she added, “I also take offense at the idea that anyone could use anything to control me or make me do something I don’t want to do. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have plans this afternoon and evening.” 

She went to move by him but before she could he reached out and grabbed her arm. Turning a level glare on him, her words died in her throat as she looked into bright yellow eyes and saw fangs starting to emerge from his gums. “You don’t understand. I have to protect you, he can’t get anyone else.” 

Recovering as best she could, she tried to pull away from him but his grip was too tight. “You will let go of me right now.” She hissed at him, furious now. “Or I’ll have you charged for assault. How dare you act like I’m some prize or treasure for the great male hero to protect against the villain. You are nothing but a bully trying to pretend he’s the good guy. Let. Go.”

He let go of her arm and gave her deep wounded eyes. “Lydia...I don’t understand, I thought we...I thought we had something, I’m just --” 

She could help it, she laughed. “Us? Something? Grow up Scott, I was using you in an ill thought out plan to get back at Allison and Jackson. You threw away your chance with Allison by being a liar and an idiot. You were trying to use me to make Allison jealous too, don’t rewrite the narrative and make yourself some kind of martyr.” 

Ignoring the devastated look he gave her, she pushed past him and finished her walk to her car. It wasn’t until she was inside and locked the door that she let herself shake and grip the steering wheel. How the hell had her life become some trashy teen paranormal romance novel? “Get a grip on yourself, Lydia.” She muttered furiously as she turned on her car and pulled out of the school parking lot. “You are better than all this bullshit.” 

When she got home she sat in the driveway, staring at the house in front of her. It looked like it always had. Perfect in every appearance. How things looked was what mattered in her family. Reaching into her backpack she pulled out the sketchbook and flipped open to the image of Stiles. Trembling, she ran a hand over the image. He had almost died today but she had stopped it. What was she going to do? How could she keep up the normal appearance that everyone expected of her with this...something...eating away at her mind? 

Going to Peter didn’t seem like a safe option, no matter what Jackson said. Not that she believed Scott either but it rankled at the thought of going to someone that smug for help. He’d expect something of her in return and she didn’t know enough about this world yet to end up in the werewolf’s debt. She had to do something though, it was too risky waiting. Sleep driving to another house in the middle of the night would just be asking for trouble. Deep in her mind a memory flickered up to the front. 

_Stiles was crouching next to a moss covered log, a look of pure mischief on his face. He held out a hand and she gripped tight, giving him a wide smile. Together the two of them ran through the forest, giggling as their path sent animals scampering and birds flying. Distantly, a voice called their names. Turning, they ran back and came out into a small clearing with a cabin in it. A grey haired woman was standing in the door laughing as they stumbled out of the forest._

Lydia jerked backwards and out of the memory. Her heart was racing. It had felt so real. She went to grab the door handle of her car then stopped. She might have another option. Maybe her mind was trying to tell her something. Gathering her determination she turned the car back on and backed out of the driveway. 

Leaving Beacon Hills she headed north towards the lakes. The farther she got away from the town the calmer she started to feel. It was almost as if there had been a darkness on her that was lifting as she drove. She turned west at Etna heading towards Sawyer’s Bar. Just before she hit the tiny mountain town she turned north again. It was getting dark by that point and as she bumped around on the now gravel road she wished once again that instead of trying to figure out this crazy thing happening to her that she could have gone to Redding and spent the evening shopping. 

The tiny cabin looked exactly the same as the last time Lydia had been there almost eight years ago. It felt like an entire lifetime had passed instead of just half her life. She wasn’t sure how long she sat in the car, staring at it, as memories washed over her. Swallowing, she got out and headed to the door. It opened before she got to it and the voice that rang out sounded exactly the same. 

“I was wondering how long it would take you to give in and come up here. I admit, I underestimated your stubbornness girl. Ah well, Hal has to win the bets sometimes or she gets cranky and starts to accuse me of cheating. Now, come in, don’t just stand there, all the warm air is getting out.” 

Obeying, she made her way up and through the door. She paused and gave the women a tight smile. “Hi, aunt Cleo.” 

The silver haired women gave her an appraising look before pulling her into a hug. “You’re here now and that’s what matters. Sit down and I’ll make you a cup of tea.” 

Lydia remained silent as her Great Aunt Cleo gracefully maneuvered around the surprisingly spacious kitchen to get a cup of tea ready. Making tea was something Aunt Cleo always had treated as more of an art form than a simple chore. Lydia remembered eagerly going from tin to tin as a child, breathing in all the smells and trying to guess what was in each one. She and Stiles would sometimes… Blinking back sudden tears, she looked away and to the floor. It had been so long since she had thought about this. It was one of the things that had gotten locked away when Claudia died. 

A warm mug pressing into her hands brought her back to the present. Her aunt’s sharp gaze almost made her break down and fall into those warm sturdy arms like she had when she was a little girl spending her summers up here. But she was older now, too old for everything to be fixed by a hug and a kiss. 

“Where’s Hal?” She asked but Aunt Cleo just leveled her with another look. 

“Out and about as always. Now. I know you didn’t come here to catch up with your old Aunt. Have the dreams started?” 

Lydia stared at her. “You knew.” 

Cleo sighed deeply. “Of course I knew, child. Now, drink your tea and tell me about it. No -- don’t start on me about why I didn’t tell you. My sister denied her heritage and rejected her gifts. Did a spell even when your mother was born so it would all skip her. She was aiming for it to skip her whole line but --” Cleo stopped and huffed sadly. “It doesn’t work like that, our magic. When you were born I tried, tried to get your mother to see sense. I thought it would be all right for a while with Claudia bringing you up here…” She trailed off again and gave Lydia another pointed look. Wanting to prolong this as long as she could, she obediently drank her tea. 

Finally, she set down her cup and started talking. As much as she would prefer to get out the whole story about her grandmother and mother from Cleo, she needed answers about herself first. Eventually she pulled out the notebook and showed it to her great aunt. The older woman took it from her and flipped through the pages, stopping at the last one. Sharp eyes looked at hers. 

“When was this one?” 

Her mouth was dry when she said, “Two days ago.” 

“Well, I know little Mischief is not dead, even out of the territory I would have felt that one, so then, what happened.” 

Lydia felt like she was on the edge of a cliff teetering there. She didn’t want to answer, she wanted to just stay in her ignorance for longer. Stay in this place of simplicity where she was safe and could go about her normal life. But she had made her choice the moment she had driven up here. Taking a deep steady breath, she met her Aunt’s gaze. 

“I stopped it.” 

A slow smile worked its way across her aunt’s face. “Good. Now, come, we have a lot of things to talk about. We will start with the family history and bloodline.” 

“Before that, could we -- I mean…” 

Cleo raised her eyebrows and gave Lydia a curious look. “It’s not like you to not speak your mind.” 

Shifting uncomfortably she looked down but still asked, “Do you know about werewolves?” 

“She certainly should know about werewolves considering she’s partnered to one.” Hal’s distinctive voice called out as the back door slammed open. 

Lydia jumped and stared at her aunt’s life partner of the last fifty years. “You’re a werewolf?” 

“Sure am. Now, what’s all this then? Cleo, you didn’t tell me we were going to have company.” 

Cleo glared at the other woman. “As I’ve said a thousand and one times Hal, I’m not a damn seer. I predict death not cheap fortunes.” 

Hal grinned, all teeth, at the two of them before shaking off her coat and hanging it up. Pouring herself a cup of coffee, the grey haired woman meandered over to plop on the couch next to her partner. Hal’s hair was short cropped grey just as Lydia remembered it, with laugh lines on her tanned face. Hal was solidly built, unlike Cleo who had the body of a dancer, but the two women had always fit together in such a way to make Lydia ache for a partnership like theirs some day. 

Hal’s gaze was as sharp as her aunt’s. “Now, little one, why are you asking about werewolves?” 

She spoke quickly, before she could talk herself out of it, “Peter Hale said I was drawn to Stiles to protect him because my magic had already decided he was pack and I want to know what that means.” 

Hal whistled softly then frowned, “Wait, what does that ragamuffin boy have to do with our Mischief?” 

“He’s a wolf now, Stiles is and --” 

“What?!” Lydia stared in shock at Cleo as she leapt off the couch and started furiously pacing around. “The little mut had the damn nerve to bite Claudia’s boy. I have half a mind to go down there and kick his stupid alpha ass --” 

“Cleo.” Hal’s voice was amused but the words were firm. “We don’t know any details of what happened. Maybe Mischief asked for it. It’s not like he or Peter would have known about the spark. Claudia hid it well, probably still dormant with the strength that girl had.” 

Cleo glared but softened when Hal grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to the fingers. “Come, love, sit and let our little banshee tell us the rest of her story. I have a feeling it’s important. Afterwards, we’ll see what message we can send down and if Peter as alpha can break that nasty curse the traitor placed on the territory line.” 

Still grumbling, Cleo sat down and fixed Lydia with a hard look. “Tell us everything.” 

Lydia felt even further adrift than before. “What is...what is going on? How do you know Peter and what is a spark? I...I don’t know everything. Stiles only told me a little a couple nights ago. We aren’t...we haven’t been friends…” She looked away and had to push back tears again. This was becoming annoying. 

Cleo moved over to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Sweetheart, breathe, it’s ok. I promise we will answer your questions. Start with what you do know and we will take it from there.” 

Lydia fell into her aunt’s arms and let the warmth surround her. Maybe, just for this brief moment she could let a warm hug be a promise of safety.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Potentially Trigger Warning for underage sex this chapter: There is a brief scene between Stiles and Peter here. It's not super long or explicit and you can see it coming to skip. Sex isn't the focus of this story but this is a pivotal moment between the two of them and is important to the plot moving forward. 
> 
> In other notes: Thank you all for the wonderful comments! I have really enjoyed writing this story and am so happy that people are enjoying it as well. 
> 
> Also: There was another edit made to chapter two to explain the Scott situation. Basically, because of California law about School attendance and lack of other affordable school options, Scott was let back into the school. He was removed from most of the classes he has with Allison and isn't supposed to speak with her because she has a restraining order against him.

Stiles didn’t remember much of what happened from when the mountain ash barrier broke until he came back into awareness, breathing into an oxygen mask. He could still taste Peter’s terror as he ripped off the oxygen max frantic to find his alpha and mate. “Peter.” His voice was a croak and he could barely see through watering eyes. Hands grabbed him and tried to hold him down, voices were speaking but he couldn’t make out the words. “Peter…” 

“Stiles. You’re ok, son, here put the mask back on.” His dad’s voice broke through the chaos and his fingers found the familiar feel of the sheriff’s uniform. 

“Dad…” 

“Thank god, you’re ok, Stiles you’re ok.” 

He tried to push himself up again only to let out a desperate growl when he was pressed back down. The other voice was speaking again. “Hey there, you’re going to be ok Stiles but you have severe smoke damage to your lungs and eyes. I need you to lay here just a little longer, ok?” 

No, it was not ok. He wanted to scream at them but his lungs and eyes were full of burning pain. He wanted Peter, Allison and Derek. He needed to know they were ok. Thrashing some more he tried to get away until a familiar scent and heartbeat made him stop with a whimper. Peter ran a hand gently over his face. “I’m here, Stiles. Allison and Derek are fine so am I.” Knowing Peter was there made him finally relax completely. The alpha started to draw his pain while speaking with his dad and the EMTs. 

He let himself drift a bit and the next time he became aware Peter was settling him into the backseat of an SUV. He heard his dad say something but all he knew right now was alpha and mate. His senses felt raw and overused so it was easier to lose himself in Peter rather than try to keep up with everything. 

Lukewarm water hitting him caused him to yelp and scramble only for Peter to croon some more into his ear. “Hush, pup, it’s all right sweetheart, you’re all right, I’ve got you…” 

Most of the rest of the day passed in this semi haze. His lungs seemed to take forever to heal and it hurt to open his eyes. Peter wouldn’t let go of him the entire day. Stiles was sure he had even heard the alpha growl at Derek at one point. By mid evening he had recovered enough to start to process and ask questions. 

Peter was almost positive that somehow the hunters had gotten aerosol wolfsbane into his room which is why he had been most affected by the wolfsbane poisoning. The other three pack members had recovered quickly in comparison to him. It was possible the hunters hadn’t planned for Derek and Peter to be in the house. Whether or not they knew about Allison being a wolf was unknown. 

The house itself had been almost completely destroyed. Stiles felt so raw and hollow from the fire itself that it was hard for him to comprehend what that meant. Everything was gone. He knew that eventually it would hit him harder, especially that they lost all the memories of his mom. At the moment, however, the relief of being alive and that Peter was here with him, was stronger. 

As soon as he was more coherent, Allison and Derek joined him and Peter to all snuggle together. Apparently while he was out of it Peter’s instincts wouldn’t even let the pack members near him. It made him realize again just how terrified the alpha had been of losing him. It was an easy task to remain clingy for the rest of the evening and by the time they were curled up in bed together he could feel Peter start to relax. 

“What do you think made Lydia come to this one when she never went to the other ones?” He asked, as they were lazily tangled up in one another.

Peter hummed thoughtfully. “I’m not entirely sure, pet, but I believe it has something to do with the bond the two of you had as children. Somehow, you grew a type of pack bond and when you became a wolf and her abilities were called out the connection between you two strengthened again. She cares about you more than I believe she’d ever admit.” 

“Yeah...she doesn’t really do care anymore. Her parents trained that out of her. Caring is a weakness and will only serve to get you hurt. Can you believe a ten year old Lydia said that to me?” Stiles laughed weakly as he remembered that day. His heart had shattered all over again at her words but instead of driving him away forever he had been determined to prove her wrong. Peter kissed him then until he was nothing but mush and he was able to finally drift off to sleep surrounded by Peter. 

They woke up Saturday morning to Allison banging the bedroom door open. “Your dad’s here.” Peter growled from where he was wrapped around Sitles’ back while Stiles groaned and tried to shove his head under his pillow. An exasperated sigh sounded from over by the door and then the covers were wrenched off them. 

“Allison!” He whipped up and could feel himself blushing bright red even though he and Peter were clothed.

“I know, it sucks, but Noah is here and if he sees the two of you coming out of the same room there’s going to be an explosion and it’s much too early for that.” 

Seeing the truth in this, Stiles pulled himself up and over to root around in his dresser for clothes. Seeing that he was moving in the direction she desired, Allison gave him a bright grin and left the room. After he was dressed he shot a look at Peter who was watching him with a lazy smirk. He glared at his alpha. 

“Not going to get dressed and face the music?” 

“Why would I? Allison only came to get you, remember?” Peter’s eyes raked over his body as the smirk turned into a leer. “I think I’ll just stay here and spend some time imagining how good it felt to be pressed up against that cute ass of yours.” 

Stiles felt himself flushing as arousal swept over him. Peter just grinned and stretched up showing off flexing muscles and evidence of his own arousal. Stiles glared. “You suck.” 

“Why yes I do. In fact, I have been told I suck very well indeed.” 

“Gah!” Stiles hurried out of the room before his teenage libido took over completely. When he got to the kitchen and met his dad’s suspicious gaze it made all the arousal leave immediately. He really could not wait until he turned eighteen. 

Derek was already making breakfast and Stiles took a moment to be incredibly grateful that it was Saturday and he didn’t need to rush to get to school. Slinking by his dad he tried to sneak some bacon only to be foiled by Derek’s superior morning awakeness. Grumbling, he threw himself onto one of the kitchen stools and stared mournfully at the food. His dad clearing his throat made him stop his attempt at using the force to levitate bacon and turn his attention back on his father. 

“Arrested Gerard yet?” He croaked out before his dad could say anything. 

“No. We haven’t found anything to tie anyone to the fire even though we know it was set. Tara brought all the elder Argent’s in for questioning. For what it’s worth, Chris was looking devastated when she told him how close Allison had come to dying.” He said this last part over his shoulder to the girl who was curled up on one of the chairs. “I really don’t think your father had anything to do with the fire. Gerard on the other hand...we all need to be on our guard around him.” 

“Jackson says the entire school thinks Gerard did it.” Stiles added. 

His dad frowned, “Why would they think that?” 

“Jax says that he thinks Lydia spread the rumor. Guessing she wanted to try and take any possible heat off herself for showing up at the burning house.” 

“I don’t understand her at all.” Allison said, sounding annoyed. Stiles’ lips twitched, he had learned very quickly that Allison did not like it when she couldn’t predict people’s reactions. 

“She’s entitled and obnoxious.” Derek rumbled over by the stove. Glaring at Stiles, he added, “I don’t know why you like her.” 

Stiles shrugged, looking away. There was so much history with him and Lydia that it was hard to explain to people. “We were friends as kids. She was there for me after my mom...she punched someone in the face who made fun of me once. I just...she’s had it rough too. I don’t mean to defend her, she’s also done some really crappy things, but I can’t hate her.” 

“I want to know where she got the Argent information from.” It was no surprise his dad jumped in to steer the conversation away to a different topic. 

“I believe that was one of the theories we discussed in front of her in the early Thursday morning when she came to warn Stiles after her prememotion.” Peter said while strolling into the main room. He carefully avoided getting into Stiles’ space, instead choosing to walk over to scent Derek before leaning against the counter. 

The sheriff hummed under his breath and moved into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Peter took the opportunity to claim a stool next to Stiles. His dad gave them a tiny bit of side eye but didn’t say anything which caused him to be able to relax a little bit. A comfortable silence fell in the group as Derek finished making breakfast and everyone gathered at the table. Jennifer appeared as if by magic as soon as the last dish was placed. She looked tired so no one asked her any questions. Stiles knew she had been updated and strengthening all the wards around the house the day before. 

They were almost finished eating when Jennifer spoke up. “I got a message from Marin last night.”

Peter turned to her, “Oh?”

“She said another emissary reached out to her and asked to be connected to the new alpha of Beacon Hills. Apparently this pack would like to come visit and make a treaty with you.” 

Peter’s eyebrows creased together. “It feels a bit early for other packs to be making such formal requests.” 

The witch shrugged. “I am just passing along the message. She said she did want to talk to you though. She sounded vaguely concerned.” 

“Interesting. Can you reach out to Satomi and ask if she has heard anything about visiting packs in the area? I’ll go see Marin in a bit. I was planning on spending the morning training.” 

Jennifer nodded and continued eating. Soon they were all finished. Stiles and Allison worked on cleanup while the sheriff drew Peter away to talk. Trading glances, the two teens slowed their clanging down so they could overhear. The two of them had been careful to not remind Noah about how well werewolf hearing worked. The sheriff seemed to remember it occasionally but most of the time forgot. It was too useful for Stiles to be able to listen in to the conversations for him to feel guilty about it. His dad was still trying to shield him from a lot of what the sheriff considered adult stuff. 

“I need your assurance that you aren’t going to go after the Argents.” 

“And why would I promise that? In case you forgot, Noah, they almost killed your son the other night.” While Peter’s voice seemed mild, both the teens winced as they could hear the undercurrent of anger in it. 

“Because if you did I’d have to arrest you and as uncomfortable as I am with this whole situation I’m not going to deny how much this pack, as you call it, needs you.” 

“That assumes I’d be sloppy enough to leave enough evidence for you to prove anything.” 

“Dammit, Hale, this conversation right here is why I’d have to arrest you.” His dad’s voice had frustration through it and Stiles winced again. 

The dangerous edge in Peter’s answer was stronger now. “To even say that shows that you have not taken any time to try and understand the world that Stiles is now a part of. We have all tried to explain to you what pack means and the importance of the alpha. I suggest you start listening better before Stiles turns 18 and lose what little control you still have in his life.” 

Peter started to walk away but the sheriff reached out and grabbed the alpha’s arm. The hair on his skin prickled at the subvocal growl Peter let out. Not sure what to do, he started to step out of the kitchen only for Allison to hold him back. 

“Is that a threat?” Rage colored his dad’s voice. 

“No.” Peter answered coolly. “It’s a statement of fact. If this were not as much of a fraught situation I would give you more time to accustom yourself to this world but we do not have the luxury of time right now. My pack’s safety is at risk because you are trying to stop me from protecting them. Stiles is my pack and you can’t take him away from me.” 

Stiles felt a bit like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Allison’s grip on his arm was painful now but he didn’t want her to let go. His dad’s face a blank mask but he could hear the furious pounding heart and the scent of outrage mixed with...fear. What was his dad afraid of? Peter was all coiled tension and he could see the beginnings of a shift in the alpha’s eyes. His dad let go of the arm and stepped back. 

“You are putting me and my son in a very difficult place right now. I understand why you want to go after Gerard. Hell, I want to kill whoever tried to kill my son but the Kate mess already left us vulnerable. That you were there for it created some awkward questions. Luckily Chris Argent backed everything up. But,if you show up anywhere near Gerard and he dies then it might not be me at your door with cuffs but someone above me. Us taking refuge here is like declaring a bias on a freeway sign. If you get suspected of anything I won’t be able to cover anything up. I’m not asking this for me, Peter, I’m asking this for your pack.” 

Peter was silent for a long minute before nodding. “I understand. For now I will wait, however, I will defend myself and my pack if anyone comes after us again.” 

The sheriff deflated somewhat and rubbed a hand over his face. “Thank you, that’s all I can ask for. Now, I believe you promised me somewhere to sleep?” 

As his dad was being taken to a room Stiles and Allison quietly finished cleaning up. Peter came back in just as they were finishing and then brought them both outside for a brutal training session. Even with the increased healing Stiles felt like he was about to collapse from the physical exertion. After showering, all he wanted to do was curl up on the couch and watch Star Trek with Allison but Peter had different plans. The alpha had a map of Beacon Hills set up with markers, sticky notes and pins next to it. 

“We are going to mark out and track the movements of all the hunters with this. We will also use this to mark safe areas and decide where we need to create safe spaces as well of what would be our pick up locations in the case of an emergency. While I agreed to not go after him directly, I have no intention of just sitting here and waiting for Argent to make his next move.” 

Stiles fell easily into this and soon was in a three way debate with Peter and Allison over the pros and cons of using the public library as a safe zone. By the time they needed to start dinner they had a plan in place for how to keep watch over themselves and the possible hunters. His dad came out around then and actually seemed impressed with their planning which kept Stiles in a good mood for the rest of the evening. The only snag in all this was because the sheriff actually stayed the night he couldn’t sleep with Peter. After the first few hours of not sleeping he was about to deal with the consequences when a familiar scent drifted close and his door slipped open. 

“Alpha.” He murmured holding out his arms for Peter to snuggle into him with a deep rumbling noise coming from the alpha’s chest. 

“Shhh...sweetheart, I’ve got you. Go to sleep.” 

Sunday passed in much the same way other than his dad being gone for almost all of it. Allison also insisted they all practice some firearm training. Her argument was that you never knew what could help in a fight and knowing how to turn hunter’s weapons against them could be the turning point. Peter had given her a sharp smile at that and Stiles could tell the alpha was pleased at this show of loyalty. The only major difference was that Jackson came over to do some of the fighting training as well as to get updated on the strategy. The other teen seemed incredibly pleased to be included. After training, Jackson filled them in with more details on what happened on Friday during school. 

“Lydia’s acting a bit erratic, it’s weird.” Jackson finished his narration with a frown. 

Allison huffed and rolled her eyes. “Isn’t she always erratic?” 

Stiles and Jackson looked at each other and shook their heads. Allison wouldn’t be able to understand the other girl like they would unless Lydia actually let her guard down again. It didn’t seem very likely to happen but who knew, it was crazy enough she had magic, maybe she would start to want deeper friendships again. 

His dad was back again on Sunday evening which surprised Stiles. He had assumed because of the distance from Peter’s house to the police station that his dad would end up spending a lot of nights at the station. It wasn’t until the obvious show of walking Stiles to his room that he realized what was going on. By the time Peter snuck into the room he was in, he was feeling a bit depressed and more than a little annoyed. 

Peter kissed him lightly before settling in and asked, “What’s wrong?” 

“It’s stupid.” He said and shifted so he could bury his face into the alpha’s shoulder. 

Peter hummed and ran his fingers up and down Stiles’ back. “Your scent says otherwise, sweetheart.” 

“I just -- it’s stupid but I’m...he would leave me alone for multiple nights in a row before at our house. He didn’t care then if I was safe and I just was a kid but as soon as you come along, suddenly he’s here every night?” 

Placing a kiss gently on his forehead, Peter hesitated for a moment before responding. “I’m probably not the best person to give an unbiased reaction to your father’s actions, dearest, I am a selfish creature who wants you all to myself with no interference. That said, I understand your frustration but I can also see how much he loves you. Love doesn’t make up for bad choices or neglect but it can give us some understanding.” 

Stiles breathed deep, relishing the scent of Peter surrounding him. “I know...I just feel like he’s not even trying to understand that I’m not exactly human anymore. He’s been all I have had for so long...I just don’t want to lose him.” 

He was tugged further into Peter’s chest and the alpha let out a low rumble. “I’m sorry, pet, I really am. As someone who has always been a wolf it is hard for me to explain the instincts that come along with it. It’s something I’ve seen before though, humans just seeing the wolf as something like an added power and not as something that you now are.” 

“Exactly! It’s like he’s like oh great you can heal and have powers but wants me to do everything the same as before and I can’t...I just...I see you and I want you so much. I’m trying to be rational and logical and my mind says I need to wait but my body just wants you. I feel like I’m fighting myself.” 

He shuddered a bit as he felt tears beginning to form. Peter pulled back and gently caressed his face. “Oh, Stiles, that’s all you baby, I’m your mate and of course you want me with your body and mind. It’s going to take time for you to adjust to this new reality and for you to trust yourself like you should. There are just certain things that wolves know that humans never could. Do you trust me?” 

Looking into Peter’s eyes a surge of want coursed through him so strong he thought he might cry out from it. “I trust you. Please...alpha, can you show me? Show me how much I need you.” 

Peter’s eyes glowed. “Careful, Stiles, I’m already so on edge with my instincts about you almost dying that I don’t know I can hear you say things like that and not take advantage.” 

Stiles made himself close his eyes then breathe in and out for a moment. Looking back at Peter, he reached out a hand and ran it down the man’s face. “I just need something more. Fuck, I just need to feel you. Please…” 

Peter growled low in his throat and Stiles could feel the want rolling off the alpha. Tangling his fingers in Peter’s shirt he pulled the man down to kiss him. The rumble in Peter’s chest got more pronounced as the alpha surged into the kiss. Stiles gasped and bucked up as Peter shifted to lay on top of him. He was sure he had never been kissed like this before. Everything in his brain seemed to melt away. All he knew was alpha, Peter, and the desire pouring off himself. 

He bucked up and mewled a little when he felt the hardness of Peter’s own erection bump up against his own. Growling, Peter pulled off him and he whined at the lack of contact. Smiling, Peter ran hot fingers up his stomach and under his shirt. Leaning back down, Peter licked up his neck which sent sharp tendrils of pleasure spiking through him. “Let’s take all this off, shall we sweetheart?” Hot breath ghosted his ear as a tongue licked around the shell of it. Gasping, he scrambled to try and pull clothes off.

Peter chuckled and helped him finish pulling off his pants before slowly peeling off his own clothes. By all the werewolf gods, his mate had an amazing body. Beyond rational thought or words he dragged Peter back down to press their now naked bodies against each other. His next mewl was cut off by Peter’s mouth firmly on his. Pulling off, Peter murmured in his ear. “Bite down on my shoulder, pet, that’s it, just like that. Don’t be afraid to let the fangs come out.” 

Peter reached over to grab lotion from the side table and then gripped their cocks together and started jerking them off together. Stiles had to bite down hard to stop himself from crying out. The friction was amazing. Peter’s hand was amazing. Everything was amazing. Peter would pull smooth and slow then hard and rough by turns. He wrapped shaking arms around his mate’s shoulders and clung there, feeling the rumble coming from Peter’s chest, the short and ragged burst of breath, the slapping noise of skin on skin. Their scents mixed together with arousal and sex, it made Stiles wild and he lost himself in the haze of pleasure. 

His release hit him hard, harder than he thought he’d ever come. He made a noise and bit deep into Peter’s shoulder. The alpha made a strained gasp before coming as well. He lay there drifting still in the haze after orgasm while Peter moved down his body, kissing and licking. He moaned when the alpha started licking all the come off his stomach and soft cock but couldn’t even move his arms at that point. Peter’s rumbling somehow increased as the alpha finished pulling his pants off and then wrapped their naked bodies around one another. He managed to turn so he could faceplant on Peter’s chest before sleep claimed him. 

He woke up as Peter slipped off the bed and pulled on his clothes. At Stiles’ annoyed grumble, the alpha laughed softly and leaned back over to give him a slow kiss. “Your father is in the shower. You need to be up in ten minutes yourself anyways. Don’t worry, dearest, soon this will always be us.” 

Knowing this was true, he didn’t complain again when Peter left the room. He did take a moment to lay there and revel a bit in the night before. It had been amazing and wonderful and holy shit, so much better than when he got himself off. Eventually he did have to move so with a low groan he rolled out of bed and stumbled into the shower. 

He was not looking forward to going back to school. Especially facing Harris after the insanity that had been Thursday night and Friday day. The teacher had been more vicious than usual ever after the sheriff had pulled the man in for questioning with the Hale fire. Stiles very much did not care about Harris’ bruised ego other than it had made for an, even more than usual, horrible two weeks of chemistry. The plan was for his dad to drive them to school and Peter would pick them up. The drive in was mostly silent as everyone was still waking up. Allison was catching up on reading and Stiles frowned in confusion. 

“I thought you said you were going to finish that book for english last night?” 

She looked up and the tips of her ears turned pink. “I got distracted talking to Derek about...stuff…” 

Stiles wiggled his eyebrows at her and grinned, delighted with this information. “Stuff, huh?” 

“Shut up.” She hissed at him. “It’s not like that. We’re friends.” 

Because his dad was in the car, Stiles let it go after that. He had no intention of starting something like this when it would be way too easy for her to retaliate with teasing about someone else. A certain someone else who he should definitely not be thinking about in the car with his dad. He quickly asked his dad about the patrol schedules for the deputies which worked to will down his arousal. Allison just gave him a knowing smirk and turned back to her reading. 

They were mobbed by Jackson almost as soon as they set foot in school. The jock grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall. Stiles was confused by this reaction as they had just seen the other teen the day before. He was about to ask what this was about when Jackson shook his head and pulled them both into the currently abandoned art room. 

“What?” Allison asked as she trailed in behind them. 

“The Principle apparently left on super short notice over the weekend. The superintendent just got an email saying he was resigning.” Jackson looked nervous and shot a look towards the door they had come through. 

Allison shot a look at Stiles and said, “Well, that’s weird but I don’t get why it has freaked you out so much.” 

Jackson rolled his eyes. “That part doesn’t freak me out. What freaks me out is that somehow, out of the blue, with no search committee or hiring process, Gerard Argent got put in place as our new principal.” 

“What?!” Stiles almost shouted which caused Allison to clamp a hand around his mouth. 

The girl looked pale and she pulled out her phone. “Shit. How, the hell…” She clicked on a number and brought it up to her ear as it rang. “How did you find out?” She asked Jackson. 

“Just as I walked in. Lydia sometimes is here early on Mondays in the computer lab so I was hoping to catch her but our new principal headed me off to have a ‘chat’.” 

A growl escaped him and pushing away Allison’s hand, Stiles moved over to sniff Jackson’s neck. “Did he hurt you? Threaten you? Are you ok?” 

“You are so weird, Stilinski, get your werewolf nose off my neck. Yes, I’m fine. No, he didn’t hurt or threaten me. He just made vague statements about knowing who to trust and finding true friends and a bunch of crap like that.” 

Peter picked up Allison’s call before Stiles could interrogate the jock any further. She handed the phone over to Jackson to give a longer account. By the time they were finished with this, Stiles had texted Shawna, Luke, Tara and multiple other people he knew worked in the small city hall of the town and the county. He just had to hope one of them would be able to give him more answers. 

It was with a lot of trepidation that the three of them moved into their first class of the day. Shawna and Tara were both sending him a string of texts telling him what his rights were as a student so he would know how to respond to anything Argent tried to do. He ended up just adding Allison and Jackson onto the group text so they could see it all as well. Lydia was almost late to class and Stiles had to stop himself from staring at her. It didn’t help that when she entered a burst of something achingly familiar flooded his senses. She smelled like home and he was totally befuddled as to why. 

He was distracted by this smell for all of english and spent most of the time trying to figure out why it was so familiar. It had to have been a scent from before he was a werewolf. It would explain why it hadn’t been categorized in his brain yet. But it would have needed to be a strong enough scent for his human self to remember it. He had to stop himself from charging up to her as soon as class was over and instead tried to subtly as possible lurk near her as they all moved off. However, judging by the confused and concerned looks he was getting from Allison and Jackson, he was not being very subtle at all. 

He ended up losing sight and smell of her when he was practically mobbed by the other students of Beacon High. Everyone wanted to know what had happened with the fire and tell him how glad they were that he and Allison were ok. It was super weird and he had to stop himself from asking them why the fuck everyone suddenly cared about him now. By the increasingly thinning lips and the deep irritation he felt rolling of Allison, he assumed she was having the same problem. 

He managed to jokingly get out of most of the questions and just fuel the rumors anytime someone asked about Gerard. “Oh, my dad keeps all the investigation stuff away from me.” and “Since Allison is living with us it’d be a conflict of interest for him to take point so I don’t have as much information as I would otherwise.” or “Whoever did it really knows a lot about setting fires...no evidence left behind. Almost like they might have done something like it before…” The last was his favorite as most caught on to what he was implying immediately. He said these things in a lower voice like he was sharing a secret and it seemed to work everytime. 

Allison just started shutting down in the break between History and Chemistry. So he dragged a couple of the girls away and managed to get their sympathy for Allison’s plight that her family might have tried to kill her. It worked and soon most of the teens were leaving Allison alone. She shot him a grateful look as they moved into the chemistry classroom. Scott appeared in front of them as they entered and gave them both a look of concern. 

“Hey, um, are you both ok?” 

Feeling rather taken aback, Stiles answered without thinking. “As fine as anyone could be that almost got burned to death three days ago by psycho fanatics.” 

Scott winced but the pleading expression stayed on his face. “Dr. Deaton says he has some things that could help you both stay safe if you want, we could go to the clinic after school and you could talk to him.” 

Allison glared and just pushed passed to find a seat. Scott reached out but Stiles moved in the way before the other wolf could grab her. “Woah, buddy, you need to leave her alone, like now. According to the restraining order, you shouldn't even be here talking to Allison. And I will have to pass on talking with Deaton. He’s made his opinions of me very clear.” 

“No, look, it’s all been a misunderstanding. He just wants to talk to you, ok? There are things you need to know about...well...I can’t say here.” 

Stiles sighed and rolled his eyes. “Dude. Buddy. Pal. I’m not talking to Deaton, and you have given me no reason to trust you lately. Leave it before I call the cops and say you are harassing Ally.” 

Scott frowned and looked like he was about to object but Lydia had entered and Stiles took the advantage of the weird day at school and the class being still only half full, to fling himself in the seat next to the redhead. Lydia looked up and glared at him. “What are you doing?” She hissed, looking around a little frantic. 

Stiles just leaned over and took in a big lungful of air. The scent was fading but it still smelled so much like warmth and memories of good things. She inched away from him, still glaring. “Stop that, you look like a total creep.” 

“Why do you smell like that?” He asked, ignoring the rest of what she had said, though he did sit back a little. 

“This is how I always smell.” She snapped at him as Harris walked into the room and gave them all a furious look before slamming his briefcase down on the desk up front. The students in the hall hurried their way inside to find seats. 

“No, this is different.” He said, lowering his voice. “You smell like lavender, honeysuckle, maple and…” His eyes widened and he breathed out as memories flooded in. “You went and saw Aunt Cleo.” 

She flinched slightly but didn’t say anything as Harris was demanding attention. He decided to let it go for the moment and tried to focus on chemistry. It was hard because now his mind was running through all the times and hours he had spent at Cleo’s house with Lydia and his mom. Now that he had placed the scent, it had become even clearer to him and he felt tears pricking at his eyes. Hiding his face in his book, he quickly focused back into Harris’ droning voice. Thankfully, that worked as a distraction for the rest of class. 

Lydia got up to leave at the end of class and before Stiles could even say anything, she leaned over and said, “I’ll talk to you, but only you after school.” When he opened his mouth to object she narrowed her eyes at him. “Only you, Stiles. If anyone else is there I won’t say a word.” Slumping off the stool, he raised his hands in surrender. She smiled at him and hooked her arm around one of her friend’s arms and walked out. It took all his will not to rush after her so he beelined to hook arms with Allison, hoping his packmate’s scent and presence would help calm him down. 

Allison was glaring after the redhead. “Peter won’t let you meet with her.” She muttered under her breath as the two of them left the classroom. 

“I know but -- shit, Ally, I need to talk to her. I can’t explain it but I need to.” 

Allison gave him a hard look then shrugged. “You get to tell Peter then.” 

He pulled out his phone, relying on Allison to steer them to the cafeteria when she suddenly halted. He yelped and almost dropped his phone as he flailed and tripped a bit before bringing his limbs back under control. Feeling baffled, he looked up and froze as stared right into the face of Gerard Argent.


	6. Chapter 6

It took her longer than she would have liked to place the face in front of her. It was a face that had been sitting in a picture frame in whatever living room they moved to for her whole life. The real one was a bit older, age lines were more prominent and he felt colder than she could have ever imagined. Stiles’ yelp and scramble for his falling phone thankfully gave her the moment she needed to collect herself back into stoicism. She hoped her fear at his sudden presence had not been evident on her face. 

Stiles recovered quickly and launched immediately into speaking. “Oh hey, wow, hi, you sure did come out of nowhere. Um, do we know you? Are you visiting someone at the school?” 

Allison held in a smirk as she saw the slight downturn of Gerard’s mouth and a hint of confusion came through the man’s scent. She was ever so glad that all it took was for Stiles to just be himself to throw someone off their game. She smiled politely, murmured an ‘excuse me’ before tugging Stiles around to the side. Gerard moved to block them again, putting on what might have been a grandfatherly smile. 

“As a matter of fact I probably belong here in this hall more than you do at this moment Mr. Stilinski.” Stiles’ eyes narrowed and she clamped her hand down harder to keep him from saying something. Gerard just turned his attention to her. “Allison, it’s been a very long time. I was hoping you would join me for your lunch break so we could catch up.” 

She straightened her spine and gave him her coolest smile. “As it so happens, I already have plans for lunch. If you’ll please excuse us, we must be going.” 

The smile slipped for a microsecond before it was back on. If she hadn’t been a werewolf she might have missed it. “I’m sure we will have plenty of time. I am your new principal.” 

“What happened to Mr. Davies?” Stiles asked. Gerard’s sneer was more pronounced this time as his eyes flicked over Stiles. 

“He had some urgent personal matters to attend to. Now, Allison --” 

“Yeah, no, not buying it. But whatever, you bribe or blackmail all the city council members you want, not getting Allison alone if she doesn’t want to.” Stiles was now giving Gerard his best who the fuck you think you are look. She felt a deep surge of affection for her friend. 

“I believe that is up for my granddaughter, and let me tell you, boy, I’m not appreciating your accusations.” The warmth had entirely left the aged hunter’s face. The cold gaze he gave Stiles sent shivers down her spine. Feeling furious she stepped forward. 

“You heard him. Now, Principal Argent, unless you have an actual reason for detaining us here we will be going now.” She met his gaze with her own and refused to let anything of her fear show. 

Gerard grimaced but stepped aside. “Of course, I’ll be seeing you around.” 

They hurriedly moved around the man and headed into lunch. She was shaking with rage so when Stiles steered her to sit down next to Jackson she was ready to let it all out. “The pure, stupid nerve of him.” She snarled as she slammed her lunchbox on the table. She barely noticed that the entire table had gone silent as she continued her rant. “To just show up after the principal ‘mysteriously’ leaves town. After what he did. After what she did. He had the absolute fucking nerve to show his fucking face.” 

“Uh, who?” 

She looked up and glared at Danny who had asked the question. “Gerard Argent.” She spit out. “My so called ‘grandfather’ who very likely tried to kill me Thursday night wanted to have a private lunch to discuss things.” 

“Woah, what? Gerard Argent is our new principal??” Someone down the table half shrieked. 

Too worked up to care about keeping her voice down she spoke loudly back. “Yes! After he said Principal Davies left for personal reasons. Fuck, probably should tell Stiles’ dad to start looking for a body. The sheer arrogance and nerve and…” She trailed off and angrily took a bite of her sandwich. 

The table they were at and the tables around them erupted into urgent conversation. Danny shot her a wide eyed look before looking back at Jackson next to her. She ignored them all, only pausing her eating to answer more questions as students started filtering by. She didn’t realize how quiet Stiles had gotten until after lunch was over and they went to their separate classes for the day. Resolving to bug him into spilling whatever was wrong after school, she valiantly tried to focus but it was not easy to get there. 

She ended up skipping gym class, hid in a corner and called Derek. He answered at the first ring. “What’s wrong?” 

“Hi.” She had to suck in a breath as she felt tears forming. 

“Allison,” Derek’s voice gentled, “what’s wrong?” 

“He stopped us in the hall. Me and Stiles, tried to get me to go with him alone...I...didn’t go. I just -- I hate this so much.” 

Derek growled. “What did he say? Are you sure you’re ok?” 

“Yeah, I’m ok. Derek, I’m sorry.” She slid down the wall and curled up with her knees to her chest. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” 

“But it’s my family who did these things to you and if I wasn’t being selfish, maybe they would have left and would leave you alone. I can’t imagine having to look at me every day after --” 

“No. Allison. Please.” Derek’s voice was a little ragged and she had the sudden realization that he was fighting tears as well. “Don’t say that...please don’t say that. You are not them. You’ve given me hope again, hope that things can change and that things don’t always have to end like they started. You are so strong and so brave. I -- I mean...I’m glad you’re here.” 

“Can you...can you come pick me up? I don’t think I can stay here.” 

“Off course. I’m already in town so I should be there in five minutes.” 

“Thanks.” She breathed it out and ended the call. She sent both Peter and Stiles a quick text and then headed out to the front to meet Derek. She just reached the steps outside when she heard a voice calling her name. Deciding to ignore it she kept walking. 

“Allison, turn around right now, young lady.” 

She spun around, the anger burning up in her again. “Don’t you dare call me that.” 

Her mother arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “As your mother I believe I have the right to call you what I wish.” 

She closed her eyes and counted her breaths for a moment while her mother launched into an age old lecture on proper behavior and how she was shaming the Argent name. She opened them when she trusted herself to be calm and calmly interrupted. “What stake or care do you have for the Argent name? Kate shamed our name, Gerard shames our name. I hate this name and would be glad to be rid of it. You have no right to tell me anything.” 

Her mother took a step forward and Allison could smell the burning rage coming off the woman. All her life she had been terrified when her mom would get this way. She had felt like a constant disappointment and like she could never be enough to win the approval of this woman. Staring at her mother now, she felt like a weight was lifting from her shoulders. She didn’t care anymore. It still hurt that her mother obviously didn’t love her but she didn’t care anymore for her approval. 

“Vicky, I believe Allison is just exerting her new found independence. You raised a strong woman, it’s no wonder she is pushing back against the boundaries.” Gerard was strolling out of the school entrance to join her mother. She eyed them both warily, she could hear the excited murmurs of other students sneaking up to watch the spectacle that was happening. 

The distinct rumble of Derek’s car hardened her resolve and courage. “My father taught me to be strong. He taught me to think for myself. It’s amazing that he was able to do so when his whole life he was punished for trying to be strong himself.” 

Gerard chuckled lightly, “It’s fascinating what youth these days will interpret their childhood to be like. Come, Allison, let’s discuss this inside like adults. I don’t believe you want a skip mark on your attendance record.” 

“Allison.” Derek’s voice as he approached made her smile. She turned and relaxed as he came up to stand up against her. She heard her mother stiffening up and Gerard’s hiss between his teeth. Derek just looked at them both with his blank expression. 

She turned back and smiled sweetly. “I’ll pass on whatever family bonding session you think you want to have with me.” She took Derek’s hand and entwined their fingers together and squeezed. He leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek and started to move away, tugging her with him. The smirk he threw back at Gerard and Victoria signaled clear victory and intent. 

“No.” The click of heels behind them made Allison pause as Victoria came up closer. The venomous look the woman threw had little effect. “No daughter of mine would ever let herself be defiled by one of these...monsters. I can’t believe I raised you so poorly.” 

“Monsters?” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Derek is the monster, the person whose entire family was killed by my aunt, but sure, Derek is the monster.” 

Quick as a snake Victoria lashed out and gripped her arm. “You know exactly what I mean. The Hale’s are animals and that Stiles is no better. You are better than this, better than them. Come back to the family.” 

Meeting Victoria’s gaze firmly, she let her eyes bleed gold for a single moment. “I guess I’m not your daughter.” She wrenched her arm out of the hold, ignoring the gasp of shock as Victoria flinched backwards and moved quickly to get into the camaro. As soon as Derek got back in, she reached over to put her trembling hand on his thigh. He let out a low rumble from his chest and sped out of the school parking lot. 

They were silent as Derek headed back into town and pulled up to the small cafe that doubled as a coffee shop. After he parked, he reached down and squeezed her hand gently. She gave him a small smile but continued to sit there just trying to let all the emotions wash through her. After a few moments she slowly moved out of the car. Derek took up her hand as they walked in and she couldn’t deny the warmth that flowed through at his touch. She knew the two of them would need to talk soon about whatever this was between them but for now she really just wanted to enjoy it and not get too worked up about details. 

They found a table and she settled in gratefully. She settled into her seat gratefully while Derek went to order them coffee. Well, in Derek’s case, probably tea. She smiled at the born wolf as he came back over to the table she had chosen. He gave her a small smile in return which in Derek speak, (as Stiles called it) was the same as a warm hug. They both were able to slowly relax and were deep in a discussion about the history of the celts when Derek stiffened and looked around in confusion. 

“What is it?” She asked, trying to subtly see if she could pick up on whatever had pinged at Derek’s wolf sense. He was still much better than she was at automatically catching things. She had to be aware and already looking most of the time to pull out subtleties. 

His nostrils flared again. “Deaton.” 

“Fuck…” There was a large part of her that just wanted to sneak out through the back. Was there no end to the difficult confrontations today? The ding of the cafe’s door signaled someone else coming in and now that she was looking for it she could smell various small animals mixed with something herbal. Focusing in on it she found the even heartbeat and quiet footsteps as the vet approached their table. 

“Derek, Allison, this is a pleasant surprise.” 

Making herself turn slowly, she gave the man a polite smile. “Dr. Deaton, having a late lunch?” 

The vet smiled softly though the man’s gaze was sharp. “Yes, actually. I wonder, may I join you for a moment? I have a few things I would like to discuss with you both.” 

She shot a look at Derek who was staring rigidly at the table. Feeling very out of her depth she took a deep breath in and out while she considered. On the one hand she was pretty sure this was breaking some sort of protocol in approaching two betas without their alpha. On the other hand it might prove useful to know more about what the man was thinking. Mind made up, she looked back at the vet. “Of course, please sit.” 

“Wonderful.” Deaton turned to grab a chair from an empty table. The server was quick to swing over to collect the vet’s order of coffee and a sandwich. Once the server had left an awkward silence fell over the table. Derek was still stiff and Deaton serene with a small smile on his lips. Allison entwined her fingers with Derek’s and the tightness with which he gripped back made her wonder if this was a terrible idea. Deaton seemed content to just sit there and drink his coffee. Every sip made Allison grit her teeth in annoyance. 

“You had something to say?” The words came out sharper than she had intended. 

“I merely wondered how you were managing with Peter. The first month after the change is the most difficult time for anyone much less when you are in a pack with a blue eyed alpha.” 

Derek’s hand spasmed and was wrenched away with a sharp jerk. His scent shifted into something bitter and dark. Not sure what was going on but knowing it was hurting Derek, she glared at Deaton. “I don’t know what you could possibly mean by that.” 

Deaton leaned forward a little, pausing when the server returned to refill his coffee, before speaking again. “I did wonder if Peter or Derek had informed you about the difference in eye color. I can understand their hesitance, it’s not something that’s easy to talk about. But back to my original question about --” 

“We’re leaving.” Derek stood so abruptly that Allison found herself startled. Breaking eye contact with Deaton she took in her fellow packmate. She could smell the pain and shame rolling off him and it made her furious. Standing, she leveled Deaton with another glare. 

“I would apologize for being rude but I don’t want to lie. I’m not interested in sharing anything personal with you and if you were wise you would stay away from us. Let’s go, Derek.” 

Once they were in the car and driving towards the house she was about to say something but Derek spoke first. “I...I’ll explain. I promise, just -- I can’t right now. I want to have Stiles there too.” 

The pain emanating from him was now mixed with fear. Her heart ached for whatever had happened to him. She kept her words as soft as she could in her reply. “Ok, it’s ok, you don’t owe me anything Derek.” 

He flashed her a slightly pain filled smile. “I know, I want to, though, tell you. I just can’t do it more than once.” 

Peter was on them as soon as they walked into the house. “What’s wrong? Allison, why aren’t you in school?” He paused then, nostrils flailing and grabbed her hand. He lifted it up to smell and his eyes burned red. “What. Happened.” 

“Deaton spoke to us at the cafe. He...he tried to tell Allison about blue eyed wolves.” Derek was looking away from them both, his body stance rigid and fists clenched. Peter dropped her hand and looked like he’d been slapped for a minute before he recovered and reached slowly towards his nephew. 

“Derek…” The alpha’s voice was soft but Derek still flinched away. 

“I can’t. Peter...I’m sorry.” 

Grief marred Peter’s face. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It was...I’m sorry Derek.” 

Allison’s phone ringing cut through the awkward silence. Seeing that it was Stiles she winced, shit. “Hello?” 

“Uh, hey, sooo I guess I thought you and Derek would be coming back to get me? I’d normally just stay here and wait but you know...your mom and grandfather have been giving me the stinky creepy eyes all day. Hoping you are close?” 

Derek whined and flinched away from Peter’s glare before taking the phone out of Allison’s hand. “Can Jackson give you a ride back?” 

“Oh, hey Peter...um, nope, he’s got lacrosse practice. I mean I could go hang out there, Coach would never let Gerard get away with doing anything to me but then I do have to endure Coach’s angst that I quit the team. Oh wait, hey, Lydia! She wanted to talk to me, I’ll see if I can get a ride with her and if not I’ll go hang out with the lacrosse team and call my dad.” 

The call ended before Peter could say anything else. He glared back at the two of them and Allison flinched with Derek this time. Peter’s eyes softened a little and he grimaced before saying, “I’m sorry Derek, if this were any other time…” 

“I know. I’m sorry I let them rattle me I can go --” 

“No. Stay here with Allison. I’ll go track Stiles down. You should tell her the story, if you can.” Peter reached out again and this time Derek let his uncle pull him in for a hug. 

“I don’t think I can say it twice and Stiles…” Derek trailed off and hid his face in Peter’s shoulder. Allison was starting to feel mildly alarmed. She didn’t like seeing Derek like this and was getting the extreme urge to tear the two new werewolves apart next time she saw them. 

“I can tell Stiles if that would be easier on you.” The words were said softly and Peter cupped Derek’s face with a hand. “It was my fault, more than yours that it even happened. I should have never left you to face it alone, I let my shame keep me from you when you needed me the most.” 

“No...It was my choice, I...” 

“Oh pup, it really wasn’t.” Peter interrupted to drag Derek’s head down and kissed him gently on the forehead. He backed up and started to move towards the door, turning back to them after he opened it and said, “Stay here. Jennifer is out for the moment checking on something for me, I’ll hopefully be back soon.” 

There was a long silence once Peter had left. Allison slowly moved into the large main room knowing Derek would come when he was ready. Part of her didn’t want to hear what he had to say. She felt like she’d known enough pain to last her a long time but life didn’t work that way. Sinking down into the couch she leaned forward and rested her head in her hands. It was just all so much. A gentle hand brushed against her fingers as Derek slipped down to sit on the floor next to her legs. 

Allison let a hand fall down and card gently through Derek’s hair. At her touch some of the tension seemed to drain out of her body and he slumped forward to lay his forehead on her knees. She could feel him shaking. “Derek…” 

He whined, deep in his throat, tightening a hand around her lower leg. “Blue eyes mean a werewolf has killed someone…” 

She couldn’t stop the sharp intake of breath at the words and he stiffened. Berating herself for the slip up she tugged at his hair. “No, I’m sorry, I just...killing someone doesn’t make you a bad person. I don’t --” 

“Someone innocent.” Derek practically gasped out the words. Taking a deep breath, she let the words linger while she processed them. 

“You know if I was Stiles I would probably start a long winded rant of what defines innocence and is it defined by the magic or yourself or...I don’t know...the werewolf gods? Derek, that’s very vague.” 

He released a deep breath and gave a wet laugh. “Yeah, that sounds like Stiles. I --” He shuddered again, clinging to her more tightly. “-- I guess I don’t know. Peter told me it was just anyone you killed gave you blue eyes but Laura said… she said that it was only for innocent people.” 

“Derek, I really don’t mean to make this more complicated but I have a feeling Peter is a better source than your teenage sister.” 

“Just...listen, she was innocent and I killed her...It was my fault…” 

Giving up on it all she pulled at Derek until he crawled up onto the couch with her. Wrapping her own shaking arms around him, she let him cry in her arms. She hated this deep shame and guilt that had enveloped him. “Hey, it’s ok, it’s ok, I’m right here.” 

Gradually, the tears subsided and he started speaking again. “I was 15 when I noticed this girl for the first time. She came out from the music room to yell at me and my friends because we were playing with a basketball in the hallway. I was a little shit and a bit of a jerk to her...it was the first time I smelled hurt in someone and I knew I’d caused it with my words. All I could think about was making sure she never smelled like that again so I worked at making it up to her and I...she was my first love.” Derek was holding Allison’s hand tightly and she could hear his furiously beating heart. 

“What was her name?” She asked, trying to keep her voice soft. 

He looked at her, pain in his eyes but gave a small smile. “Paige. Her name was Paige and she was everything to me. My family was large and I struggled to fit in. Everyone else was loud and big and nobody ever seemed to know how to talk to me. Except for Peter. He was my best friend and the one person I told everything to. They all treated him differently as well. He already had blue eyes then...he was trained to be the one who took care of threats so the other pack members didn’t have to face that fear. I remember thinking it wasn’t fair of the others to be afraid of him when they wouldn’t do what he did. He protected us, he cared about us, and I loved him.” 

Allison felt a small curl of anger in her. “That doesn’t make sense, what about humans like police officers or soldiers? They kill to protect others, it sounds the same to me.” 

Derek looked up, his gaze unreadable. “It makes a difference to hunters. You’re right, it shouldn’t make a difference to pack members. Some wolves just have different roles or jobs but hunters care. If a pack has multiple wolves with blue eyes a lot of hunters will use that as an excuse to kill the pack. They’ll say that it means the alpha’s lost control or that the whole pack will go bad…” 

She squeezed Derek’s hand and glared off into the distance. “I’m starting to really hate hunters. That’s despicable. Everything they do -- I just...Derek, I remember Kate taking me to a wildlife rescue where they rehabilitate wolves and cougars to release back into the wild. She helped me write a paper and pass out a petition for ranchers not to be able to kill wolves. Why...she’s a monster, I know she is -- was but she did all these things that were good and I don’t know how to reconcile them together.” 

“I don’t know.” Derek whispered the words, his voice cracking slightly. “I don’t know how she was like how she was. She was so sweet to me, told me how good I was and that she loved me...I didn’t even know that it was her until I tried to call her after it all. She answered and she laughed at me.” Derek was shaking now and Allison heard herself whimper and she tried to pull Derek in even closer. 

“I’m so sorry Derek. I’m so sorry. I don’t know how you can even look at me or comfort me when my family destroyed yours.” 

“It wasn’t you, Allison, it wasn’t you. You are nothing like her, you are willing to give them all up for what is right and just. You’re so strong.” 

She pulled back and looked at him through her tears. “I’m not though. Not really. I was so angry and I made a choice to walk away from them and then...I felt so alone and I wanted to just do something to make up for all the horrible things so I thought if I could be a wolf, if I could be pack then just maybe it would help. But now...the way my dad looked at me...I keep seeing it, every time I close my eyes I see him looking at me and hating what I am.” 

Derek put his hands on her face and held them there for a moment. “You’re amazing, Allison Argent, and I am honored to be your packmate.” 

Shaking her head, she looked away while struggling to come up with the right words. “When I was ten, we had just moved to a new home again and I was really sad because I’d left my best friend for life at the other school.” She smiled, remembering. “Having a best friend was so important back then and I’d finally felt like I belonged when Amy chose me to be hers...but then we had to leave and I was devastated. I remember my dad took me out for ice cream right after we got into our new home and he told me…he told me that friends will come and go but family is forever. That family sticks together no matter what and will never abandon you.” 

Something wet fell on her arm and she realized she was crying. Angrily brushing away tears she kept talking. “My dad has always been there for me. Always. I just don’t understand… Even my mom would always tell me, ‘Family first, Allison, we don’t ever abandon family.’ But they are...they did...they would rather have chosen Kate than --” She broke off, unable to finish the thought. Derek reached up and clasped one of her hands gently in his. 

Moving forward, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him back in for a hug. It was his turn to bury his face in her neck and take deep breaths while she hung on tight. Eventually he moved back a little and they sat there on the couch together, holding hands. Rubbing her thumb along his knuckles she looked up at him. “I interrupted you, about Paige.” At his slight flinch, she hurried on and added, “You don’t have to talk about it anymore. I just didn’t want to stop you if you needed to go on.” 

He closed his eyes, taking a deep shuddering breath. “I need to finish. It’s just so hard...it’s been so long and I never really had the chance to process before Kate and then the fire… but I want to tell you. I was such a fool. I was so worried that Paige would never accept the werewolf. Peter said I should just tell her without asking permission but I asked anyway, I was too afraid of being punished if she reacted badly but my mom refused permission for me to tell her. I was getting desperate for her to know and there were a bunch of visiting alphas for a peace summit. Peter said he knew one of them that would bite her if we asked, he said that if she was bitten then there would be no refusal from mom and it wouldn’t be our fault.” 

“Why would Peter even suggest that?” Allison said, feeling slightly outraged, “To bite without someone consenting you might get someone like Scott!” 

Derek huffed a small laugh, “Or Stiles.” 

She paused her rant and made a face. “Oh. Right. I forgot that happened without permission as well.” 

He squeezed her hand. “It’s not uncommon for some packs not to ask. The better packs wait or only bite people they are sure of. But...Peter explained the situation to Ennis and he agreed to do it. There’s very little chance of the bite going wrong if the alpha is there for the transition and other pack members are there as well. We had a plan, Ennis was going to even explain it first, so she’d know what was going on. Then it all went to hell. Gerard attacked the summit and half of the wolves there were slaughtered. Ennis lost the most pack members and went slightly feral...he went after Paige without Peter or I knowing about it and he attacked her brutally and then left her.” 

Allison could help the gasp that escaped her. Derek hunched over as if it physically hurt him to remember these things. “Derek…” 

“I found her not long after but it was too late, her body was rejecting the bite and she was dying...I brought her to somewhere safe and she told me she’d always known I was a werewolf, she told me she didn’t care and that she loved me...she said it hurt so much and begged me to make it stop...so I did. I made the pain stop. The pack didn’t treat me the same after. They were already afraid because of what the hunters had done to the other packs and they saw my blue eyes and thought it would bring them back. I hated Peter. I blamed him for it all but inside I blamed myself more.” 

Derek went silent and Allison pulled his shaking body into her and held him close. “It wasn’t...it wasn’t your fault. Ennis went feral, like you said. It wasn’t your fault.” 

Derek leaned into her arms and her grip tightened as his sobs started. Her own tears fell freely again and she let her head rest on his back. She cried for Derek and Peter. She cried for herself and her father. There was just so much pain in their histories that her own felt like nothing in comparison. Yet she could stop from feeling it deeply as she thought of her dad’s face, her mom’s look of disgust or that moment when she knew she had lost them forever. 

Eventually, Derek’s sobs got quieter and soon she could hear his heartbeat start to slow down. Wriggling around, she managed to situate herself so she could lay down on the couch with Derek half on top of her. She ran her fingers through his hair to sooth the whimpers from when she moved him around. She had to fight not to cry again as she imagined Kate finding a vulnerable Derek and seducing him. Biting down on her lip she took deep and steady breaths. If she ever found out that Gerard or her mother had known about what Kate did to Derek she was going to help Peter kill them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My version of the Paige events! Ugg, I just didn't like how Canon did it at all, but felt like it could work in here with Deaton being shady AF. 
> 
> As a heads up, I have five more chapters done and am writing more but I got a job a couple weeks ago (WHICH YAY - I've been laid off since March because COVID) and it means I don't have as much time as writing. I'm really really hoping it won't delay chapters later but it might. I do intend to finish because to leave a story unfinished would give me hives. I also have enough of a plan in place that I am good there. :)


	7. Chapter 7

Lydia knew she was being a coward but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to contact Stiles on Sunday after she’d gotten back home. Her mind was still reeling from all the information her Aunts had given her about banshees, werewolves and themselves. She didn’t know what to do or how to think about any of it. Part of her still wanted to go hide and pretend none of it was real but the innocuous notebook sitting on her desk mocked that idea. 

There was no going back to ignorance. It was something she had known ever since the face of Garrison Meyers stared up at her from the newspaper. This wasn’t something she could fight or ignore. She’d tried and then it had led her back to Stiles. Everything always seemed to come back to Stiles. Her house felt too small for her but she didn’t know what else to do. She had tried so hard to pretend that everything was fine for months now and here was the chance to have someone understand but she was too terrified to go to him. A knock on her bedroom door interrupted her anxious thought spiral. 

“Yes? Who is it?” 

“Lydia, there you are. Were you gone all night?” Her mother was smiling as she entered the room. Only a slight crease between the woman’s eyes hinted at some displeasure. 

Caution and carefulness would be key in her answers. “Yes, I went to Redding with some friends.” 

“Hmmm, well you need to stay in tonight because it’s a school night.” 

“Of course, mother.” 

“By the way, I keep meaning to ask, why hasn’t Jackson been around lately? Are you two on one of your off times?” Her mother’s eyes swept over every nook and cranny in the room. The crease got more prominent when the gaze fell on the open bag on her bed. Lydia wanted to glance at it to make sure nothing obvious was showing from her aunt but knew that would be a dead giveaway. 

Instead she rolled her eyes and flounced down on the bed, giving a deep groan. “Uggg...Jackson. The little jerk cheated on me. I think I’m done with him for good this time.” 

Her mother raised one, perfectly shaped eyebrow. “I’m sorry to hear about Jackson. I always knew he was trouble but I didn’t realize he was an idiot too. No wonder really, knowing where his mother comes from.” 

In order to stop herself from replying ‘birth or adopted’ Lydia decided a change of topic was in order. Looking down at her nails she responded in an airy tone. “But anyways, it doesn’t really matter. I might have met someone new already and he lives up in the cleb club.” 

As she expected, her mother’s eyes lit up with interest. “Oh? That sounds promising. Do I know his family?” 

Lydia paused for a moment as if she was running through the possibilities. “I don’t think so...it sounds like they are new up there and you know how private they all like to be. He’s invited me up there tomorrow after school actually. If it becomes relevant you’ll be the first to know of course.” 

“Of course, well, good for you sweetie. I was just coming in to check on how things were going. I hope you have a good evening, I’m off to meet some friends for dinner in Redding.” 

Lydia gave her mother a large smile. “Have fun, mother.” 

Only after her mother had left the house did she turn around to check the open bag. She didn’t see anything that would have been suspicious so she pushed her worries away for the moment. Her mother usually saved things she had against her daughter to use when she needed leverage or to provide a cut down. However, Lydia was sure that if there had been anything indicating her aunt in the bag ground zero would have happened immediately. 

The rest of Sunday she spent in organizing the information she had written down on her computer. Making various folders and then carefully hiding them in the places Danny had set up that no one would be able to open without knowing a very specific mathematical algorithm. When she had finished she went back to trying not to think about Stiles or Peter or Allison. They didn’t need her help and now she didn’t need theirs. She had almost talked herself back into trying to stay away from them. 

Her resolve lasted until chemistry when Stiles smelled her aunt on her. She could see the memories playing out in his eyes. The pain she saw there made her look away. A shadowy memory of the two of them crouching down by a small creek, a pocket knife and childish vows of eternal friendship rose up in her. Swallowing hard, she gripped the edge of her desk and waited for the memory to fade. Ok, she admitted to herself, maybe she couldn’t do this on her own and keep away from Stiles. For the first time in her life she didn’t pay attention to a word the teacher was saying because she was so busy debating how to talk to Stiles without anyone knowing. 

Lunch ended up being pure chaos as the news of their new principal broke. Lydia was furious that she’d let herself get so distracted that she hadn’t known about this change in administration earlier. She kept silent through most of lunch, simply taking in what everyone else was saying. Emily asked her near the end what she thought they should do about it which gave her the perfect opening. 

“I think we should talk to our parents or go to the school board ourselves. This isn’t protocol for someone so new to town to just get to be the principal at a whim. It makes you wonder what he did or who he bribed to get this position…” 

This sparked a flurry of discussion at her table over how they should go about this. One of the students, Anna, started organizing everything in a notebook and said they should get a petition circling. By the end of lunch Anna had students stationed at the two exits to the lunchroom with notebooks and pens for everyone to sign demanding answers on the placement of Gerard Argent as their principal. Lydia eyed the other girl with interest, she would have to do some work cultivating Anna as an ally. 

The rest of the afternoon passed in a flurry of student outrage and confused teachers. Lydia felt incredibly smug at seeing it all. This is why one had to lay good ground work for any offensive campaign. Due to her gossip on Friday, the whole school had already been primed to explode over something like this. How Gerard responded to this would tell her a lot about the man. After classes ended, she kept a careful eye out for Stiles as she meandered through the halls. It was all too easy for her to slide up to the conversations, widen her eyes, breathlessly ask how anyone could feel safe with such a man as principal and then slip away when the group got heated. 

She had just made it outside when she saw Stiles jogging over to her. Making a decision right then she met him halfway and was about to suggest a place for them to go and talk when Scott appeared next to them. Both of them turned to give the teen a glare. 

“Hey, what are you guys doing?” 

“Scott, really?” Stiles sounded resigned and a little irritated. 

“Yes, Stiles, really. I don’t know what Peter wants with Lydia but you all need to stay away from her.” Scott was standing aggressively into Stiles’ space with a mulish look on his face. For Stiles’ part, he rolled his eyes. 

“Oh my wolf gods, dude, take a chill pill, or I don’t know, do your calming exercises or something. Nobody makes Lydia do anything that Lydia doesn’t want to do.” 

Scott’s eyes turned yellow but different from Allison’s eyes. Where Allison’s eyes had been a deep, almost gold color. Scott’s were pale and a little sickly looking. Stiles frowned at the other teen and looked almost like he was going to reach out but Scott batted the hand away and snarled. Stiles flinched back and Lydia felt a swell of protective anger at the pain in his eyes. 

“Scott.” She said, pushing herself in between the two boys. “You need to calm down. Like I told you Friday, I have nothing to do with Peter Hale. Even if I did, it is not your business or place to stop me.” 

“McCall!” Jackson came jogging up. “Why the hell are you here? It’s time for practice.” 

Scott backed away, scowling at all of them. “You all are making a big mistake. I can help you but if you keep choosing this way you will all regret it and there is nothing we can do to help you.” With that, he whirled around and stalked away towards the practice fields. Jackson watched him leave with an irritated look. 

“Someone needs to do something about him. He’s one step away from hurting someone badly.” 

Stiles shrugged, looking like exhaustion had settled on him. “Like Peter said the other day, it’s out of his control now. Deaton has to step up or send him to another alpha. Did you talk to Miss Morell yet?” 

“No. Haven’t had the chance. I’ll set up an appointment tomorrow.” 

“K. Thanks Jax.” Stiles hugged Jackson and then, to Lydia’s shock, Jackson hugged him back. The jock even whispered something that made Stiles give a tired smile before slapping Jackson on the back and pulling back. Jackson shot her an inscrutable expression before he followed Scott to the practice fields. Now it was just the two of them. It felt even more awkward that there were very few students left in the area. Most had left the school while they had been dealing with Scott. 

“Uh, so…” Stiles rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced at her. 

“I want to tell you.” Lydia said in a rush. “But I don’t know how. I don’t know how to tr -- to be ok with someone knowing part of me.” 

“I know. I know it’s hard and Lydia, you don’t have to tell me, I know I’m pushy and a bit of an asshole but --” 

Lydia laughed in disbelief. “You, the asshole? Oh Stiles...I’m the mean bitch in this and every scenario.” 

He winced and looked away. “I never thought of you like that. Even when I hated you for leaving me I never thought of you like that.” His voice was soft and it cut her more viciously than cruel words could have ever done. 

In an effort to keep herself from breaking down she pulled Stiles over to a bench and sat down. They could see the lacrosse field from where they sat, which she was counting on to keep Argent from going after Stiles here. Looking back up at Stiles she started talking. 

“Aunt Cleo knew. About me being a banshee. She said my grandmother tried to get rid of the heritage and bloodline. Your mom knew too...that’s why she brought me up there. She didn’t tell me much more about her, they said that was for you to hear. But she taught me about my magic and what I can do with it.” 

Stiles had sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of his mom and was now looking at her with that raw pain again. “My mom...knew about magic?” 

Lydia nodded, fighting back her own tears again. “Yeah.” 

“Fuck. Shit. Is that…” He trailed off, clasping together shaking hands. “I don’t know what to do with that Lydia.” 

She let out a broken half laugh, half sob. “I don’t know what to do with it either. Stiles, I’m terrified. I just want to go back to being normal. I don’t know how to do any of this. I keep telling myself I’m going to just ignore it and go back to how things were but everytime I see you it’s like something inside me won’t let me not go to you.” 

“Peter said your magic recognized me as your pack somehow.” The words were hesitant, almost as if Stiles wasn’t sure he completely believed it. Lydia trembled slightly, that was so similar to what her aunt had said. Thinking of her aunt made her remember something else. A memory that had been dug up over the weekend. 

“Do you remember the first time we met?” 

He looked back up at her. “Yes, you...you were six and you’d just buried your puppy in the woods. I found you there, crying.”

It was her turn to look away now. “Yes. It had been peeing in the house and I was trying to get it to stop but my father shoved it outside and said it couldn’t stay in until it was house broken. A coyote killed it. I was devastated but then you found me...do you remember what you said to me?” 

The tips of his fingers brushed hers but didn’t make the move to take her hand. “I said that I heard you calling for me. I brought you home and my mom made you hot chocolate.” 

Letting out the breath she was holding, she let her fingers entangle with his. “I think you have magic too, Stiles. I think we connected that day. I cried for death that happened and you came to me. Then when I saw your death I had to go to you.” 

“I don’t know if werewolves can have magic.” He was squeezing her hand now. 

“Don’t be stupid, a werewolf is magic.” 

He huffed. “I know that, I mean, magic beyond the wolf. Jennifer said most types of magic aren’t compatible with shifters. That their shifter spark overrides any other spark they might have.” 

Lydia took that in, still holding onto Stiles’ hand like it was her lifeline. “I don’t think whatever you are got overridden by the wolf spark. Or if it did our connection remained...or something. I just...when I’m around you I feel more centered. More in control of myself.” 

Stiles’ eyes widened. “I’m your anchor.” 

Her grip tightened. “What does that mean?” 

“It’s what keeps us settled, grounded, the spark can be so strong that we need something more than ourselves to hold onto. Most werewolves anchor themselves in their pack and their alpha. Derek said he used anger to ground him after the fire and uh, Scott used Allison…” 

Lydia felt a flare of annoyance and she dropped Stiles’ hand. “I don’t nee-- That’s ridiculous. I’m fine on my own. I always have been.” 

Stiles snorted and rolled his eyes. “See, here you go again hiding back into your shell. No one is fine on their own Lydia. You cannot tell me that the most grounded time in your life wasn’t when you were with me and my mom and your aunts. We all kept each other grounded, even before your abilities appeared. It’s not a weakness to need others.” 

Trembling, she hugged herself. “It is for me. They always leave me. Stiles...I can’t. I’m sorry. I just --” 

Stiles stiffened and looked to the side towards the lacrosse field. His tension made her freeze and look over as well. She stiffened as well when she saw their new Principal watching them from the sidelines. Something uneasy shifted in her gut and she tightened her hold on Stiles’ hand. “He can’t hear us, right? He’s just human?

“Yes. I mean...I think so, I don’t know how he could be more than that, but when I tried to smell him it was weird. His scent was all confusing so I couldn’t get a good read on him.” 

“That is not reassuring.” She said, muttering the words. 

“Hey, my use of the force is still limited, ok? I haven’t gotten the hang of all my Jedi powers. Still just a padawan here!” The cheeky grin he gave made her relax a bit and she swatted him. “Ow! Abuse!” 

“Don’t be stupid. Also, Peter is not an Obi-Wan.” 

“Yeah, no kidding, much more like a young emperor Palpatine at the beginning stages of his plan to take over the world.” 

They went silent after that. Gerard had turned his attention away from them and towards the field. She took the opportunity to study the aged hunter. Between the information from Peter, Stiles and her Aunts she felt like she had a decent idea of what hunters were about. The idea of one coming after her was terrifying. She was about to suggest they go somewhere else when the coach, who had been talking to Gerard, shouted for Jackson and Scott. Stiles went alert and focused at her side. 

“What are they saying?” 

“Normal stuff about them being co-captains and how Gerard doesn’t know lacrosse. Oh shit.” 

“What? Don’t just stop talking.” She tried to keep her voice low but fear for Jackson was making it difficult. He was human so he should be fine as far as she knew but the anxiety Stiles was giving off didn’t fill her with confidence. 

“He wants to meet with them to talk about the team and the sport. And Scott, the idiot, is all about it.” 

Rolling her eyes at Scott’s stupidity, she glanced around the rest of the field. “Are they meeting now or later?” 

“Later. Ugg…” 

Gerard turned to look at them again and Lydia felt something squeeze inside her. A popping sound went off, making her ears ring and vision go blurry. There was a distant sound rushing through the air but she couldn’t seem to focus on it. She had to get up. She had to move. It was a bit like the time she had gone scuba diving. All sounds were muted and her body was sluggish as she forced it to take steps. A hand grabbed her arm and she screamed. 

“Lydia!” 

“Stiles, what did you do?!” 

“What the fuck! I didn’t do a fucking thing!” 

“Hey! Hey!” A whistle blew. “Stop crowding her, you moronic imbeciles. Give her space, let her breath.” 

Another hand grabbed her. This one was rough but strong. The touch made her want to run as far away from it as possible. Something oily and dark pressed at her mind. Why wouldn’t all these people just let her go? She needed to find something, someone was calling to her. The voices were still a cacophony around her and while she could hear the words she couldn’t seem to respond to them. 

“Scott, let me go asshole.” 

“McCall! Bilinski! Stop fighting like toddlers. Whittemore! We do not push the principal!” 

“I think Miss Martin obviously needs some quiet. Coach Finstock, why don’t you take your team back to the field. I know the nurse should still be in so I’ll escort Miss Martin to her.” 

The rough hand was back, this time it pulled too. She tried to fight against it but her body felt weak and useless. Sickness churned in her stomach. The darkness felt rotten and cold. 

“Stiles…” 

“Come along, Miss Martin. We’ll get you all sorted out.” 

“Lydia! Let go Scott, Lydia!” 

Stiles’ voice cut through the haze and fog that was surrounding her. She thrust out with the hand not being held by Gerard. Her scream cut away the last of the fog as she shoved Gerard away from her. The hand let go of her arm and she could breathe again. Whirling around, she saw the entire lacrosse team gaping at her. Finstock was trying to herd them back towards the field but was having little luck. Scott and Stiles were on the edge of the group. The two of them had been scrabbling but stopped now to look at her. She had the strong desire to run and hide away but gritted her teeth and stopped herself. Somethingwas still calling to her and it was with a growing dread that she realized what it was. 

Not sparing a look for the principal as Finstock had abandoned his efforts to herd the lacrosse team and was now helping the man stand up, she took off walking across the field. Complete silence lasted for about a minute behind her until the whispers broke up. Jackson was the first to her side but kept silent at her head shake. The steps of the other players were loud behind her and behind them she could hear a furious argument between Scott and Stiles. By the time she reached the forest edge, the two werewolves had come to some sort of truce as they were both at her side when she found the body. 

Jackson spun around and stumbled a few steps before throwing up in the bushes. Stiles already had his phone out to call the police while Scott just stared wide eyed at the burned corpse. She just felt numb. The body was nothing but a mass of burnt, oozing flesh. It wasn’t just the body that held her attention because lying right on top of it was a single orange feather. The feather seemed to flicker on the edges of her vision, almost as if flames were still dancing up and down it. 

“What the bloody hell are you morons still stand-- oh fucking hellspawn.” Finstock came to an abrupt halt beside here. He paused for barely a moment before spinning around and yelling at the team to get back to the field. They listened to him this time and reluctantly turned around to leave. Lydia leaned into Stiles who had finished his phone call and wrapped an arm around her waist. 

“Come on, let’s go sit down while we wait for the police.” 

Finstock got most of the team back into practicing while Stiles sat down with her just on the edge of the field. Jackson collapsed down next to them only to spring up again when Scott came over. “You’re not welcome here McCall.” 

“I need to talk to Stiles.” 

“That’s too bad because Stiles doesn’t need to talk to you.” 

“Stiles! I need to know what you did.” 

Stiles jolted slightly from where he was sitting next to her. “What do you mean Scott?” His words sounded tired and she could see the slight tremble in his hands. Pulling herself to her feet she glared at Scott. 

“Yes, Scott, what do you mean? Because all I saw was a friend helping out another friend in a difficult moment.” 

“I mean about the dead body and you. What happened to you?” Scott had at least lowered his voice to ask the question instead of blurting it out for all the world to hear. She still winced along with Stiles and quickly looked around. Gerard was walking their way and she definitely didn’t want to have whatever this was where the hunter could overhear. Time to shut this down fast. 

“We do not know anything about the dead body. We found out about it at the same time as you. As for me. That is none of your damn business.” 

Scott had a mulish look on his face. Stiles had gotten to his feet when she had been speaking and she was grateful for his solid presence at her side. Gerard reached them before Scott could formulate a reply and they all stood awkwardly for a moment while Gerard looked around at each one of them. His gaze made her skin crawl. He looked at her as if he knew exactly what she was and what she could do. As he looked into the forest towards the body, a small smile played at his lips. She felt herself shudder at the oily dark feeling that seemed to emanate from him at that smile. 

Stiles straightened and looked over towards the parking lot. “The police are here.” 

“Ah, excellent. Well, I assume they will want to speak to all of you so why don’t you follow me out to meet them.” He gave them all a razor thin smile and gestured towards the parking lot with his arm. Reluctant to put her back to him but knowing that they had little choice Lydia took the lead to walk towards the now parked police cars. 

The next hour passed in a bit of a blur. They ended up all having to go wait inside the school for a deputy to interview every one of them individually. Scott, thankfully, seemed to have decided to keep any accusations to himself for the moment. She decided to tell the police that the wind had changed suddenly which made her smell something that made her feel sick. She followed the smell to the forest and found the body. The deputy interviewing her, Tara Graeme, gave her a disbelieving look but didn’t push. 

Finally released to go she walked out of the school to see Stiles talking urgently with the sheriff. Feeling wary but needing answers to what had happened she walked over to them. She got there in time to pick up on some of the conversation. 

“What about the feather? Dad, you did get the feather right? There was something wrong with it.” 

“What the hell are you talking about? There was no feather. Just a dead body that was burnt to a crisp. Now, where the hell is Derek or Peter? I thought they were supposed to be driving you to and from school.” 

“But dad, there was a feather on top of the body and it --” 

“Enough about the feather or what it felt like or what Lydia did. Call Peter.” 

With those final words the sheriff turned and walked over to another one of his deputies. Stiles snarled and rubbed his hands over his head. When he turned and saw her the glow faded from his eyes. Grimacing he closed the distance between them. 

“Hey, are you ok?” 

She tried to smile at him but was pretty sure it failed. “I’m fine. I just told them I smelled something that made me sick which is why I freaked out.” 

His lips twitched but that quickly turned into a scowl again. “Huh, it was close enough that me or Scott should have smelled it. Why didn’t we…” 

“I don’t know.” She felt pretty helpless. “And why didn’t I dream of someone dying last night? I didn’t see anything or know anything until…” Her voice trailed off as her mind ran through exactly what had happened again. It didn’t make sense, from what Aunt Cleo had said she should have been warned of the death ahead of time or at least known about it immediately. Something had happened though when Gerard looked at her, like something had come undone and suddenly she had known about the death. 

A hand on her arm broke her out of the spiraling thoughts. Jackson had come up and was giving her a concerned look. Part of her wanted to scream again, she was tired of everyone looking at her like she was fragile and was going to break into pieces. Stiles was on the phone now, speaking in low tones to whomever he was talking to. He got off just as Scott found them again. Jackson and Stiles both rolled their eyes and groaned. Scott ignored both of them and reached out towards her. Practically hissing at him, she wrenched away from the outstretched hand. 

“How many times do I need to tell you to leave me alone? Do I need to get a restraining order?” 

He shot her a wounded look and shuffled backwards a foot. “I’m sorry Lydia, I’m just worried about you...I...can we talk? Please?” 

“No.” She said flatly then turned her body away from him. 

“But you might be in danger and I have something I really need to say.” He had moved back into her vision to give her pleading puppy eyes. She had to resist the urge to slap him. 

“No means no, Scott.” Stiles said from behind her. “I wouldn’t have thought you of all people would need to be taught that.” The effect of Stiles’ words on the other teen were immediate. Scott flinched away as if he had been slapped, shooting Stiles a look of utter betrayal. 

Scott recovered quickly and lashed back out. “All I’m trying to do is keep everyone safe from Peter. But you are all so focused on yourselves you refuse to see that. Well, I tried. But maybe you don’t deserve being saved.” Not giving them time to respond the teen turned and stalked off. 

“This is going to get old really fast.” 

Jackson rolled his eyes and punched Stiles in the arm. “It’s already old, Stilinski.” 

Before Stiles could retort his phone buzzed. “Hey, Peter’s here. Uh, Lydia…” 

She just nodded and started to walk towards the pick up area with him. There wasn’t really a choice anymore. She was in this now with Stiles and the Hales. As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew she couldn’t. Especially because it was a certainty that she was on Gerard Argent’s radar now. The potential protection that Peter Hale could provide was also a benefit if the hunter was eyeing her as part of this now. 

Peter was standing outside his car as they came up. The werewolf was looking passed them at the milling group of police, students and parents with suspicion. His gaze sharpened at their arrival, taking them all in. For the second time that day Lydia felt like someone was looking straight at her and seeing everything she always hid away. For some reason Peter’s gaze didn’t make her afraid like Gerard’s had. She filed that away for further reflection at a later date. 

Stiles eagerly hugged the older man who gave the teen a soft smile in return. Jackson hung back with her which made her glad to see that Peter didn’t have potentially problematic relationships with both teens. Seeing the hug did remind her that she needed to grill Jackson on whatever that relationship was pronto. 

“I’d ask what happened but I’ve gotten the gist from listening in and I have the feeling that most of this conversation should be held somewhere else.” Peter said the words calmly enough, though his eyes were bleeding tension as he looked back towards the large group. Lydia moved herself forward a couple steps before speaking. 

“I agree and if you would be alright with it I would like to be part of this discussion as well.” 

Peter hummed under his breath and looked at Stiles who nodded. “All right then. You can follow us back to the house. Derek and Allison are already there.” 

Stiles pulled back a little ways from the werewolf and shot a nervous look towards her. “Ok, but I’m going to ride with Lydia if she’s ok with it. The whole dead body and Gerard stuff interrupted a conversation we were having and --” 

“No.” Peter reached out and latched a hand around Stiles’ arm. The action made all of Lydia’s defensives come up. “You may speak to Lydia again back at the house but you are driving there with me.” 

“Hey, last I checked you weren’t my father and I do get to make decisions for myself still.” Stiles looked pissed now. “I want to drive with Lydia, thank you very much.” Stiles wrenched his arm out of Peter’s grasp and met the alpha’s glare with one of his own. 

“It’s not safe.” Lydia actually heard a growl in the words as Peter spoke them.

“I am not some damsel in distress that you get to lock up in an ivory tower. You don’t get to make choices for me, Peter.” 

“I am your alpha and you --” 

“Fuck you.” Stiles practically snarled the words and his eyes flared bright gold. “You don’t get to play that card just to force me to listen to bull shit orders. That’s now how this works.” 

Peter’s eyes turned bright red and he reached for Stiles again. Lydia wanted to smack both of them. “Hey.” She said while pushing her way in between the two wolves. “That’s enough, both of you. I am not interested in standing here listening to whatever emotional drama you two have going on. I am going to follow you to the house and you two can work this out in the car.” 

With a last glare at both of them she left and went to her car. Part of her still wanted to go home and forget about all of this but the other part of her knew she couldn’t do that anymore. Continuing to run away from this would be just that, running away. She hadn’t chosen this magic inside her but it was here now and for some reason it was connected to Stiles. It felt a bit like her world was breaking into pieces around her. Everything she had worked so hard to achieve was for nothing now. Let it never be said though that she was a coward. If this was what her life was now then she was going to damn well make it work for her. Resolve hardened within her, she threw the car into drive and followed Peter Hale as he pulled out of the parking lot.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8! I had to fight a bit with this one so not sure it lives up to my usual standards. Peter and Stiles were being difficult (like no surprise there but still) and didn't want to cooperate in proceeding forward with the plot. 
> 
> In other news, I am officially looking for a beta for this story! Help with bouncing ideas back and forth, helping me remember what I've already written, and typo looking. If you are interested please email me at tarvera1209@gmail.com. I'll probably start whomever is interested with a shorter fic I'm working on so we can both see if we would be a good fit with each other. 
> 
> And on another note. I had a couple of fairly negative comments lately and after much agonizing I decided to delete them. For the most part I don't want to do this as everyone is entitled to their opinions but if you don't like anything I've written here then please just back out. I don't want the conversation to get distracted by negativity. I'm happy to answer questions on things that are confusing and there have been a few constructive comments that I am good with. But any bashing I've decided I will delete. 
> 
> also also BIG THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who leave me amazing awesome comments! You are the majority and I appreciate every one of you so much. 
> 
> Now: On to the story!

It was so very tempting to walk away and refuse to get into the car with Peter. It was only the knowledge that Gerard Argent was most likely still lurking around the school that made him throw himself into the passenger seat of Peter’s vehicle. The scent coming off the alpha was just as furious and he winced a little at the glare Peter sent his way. 

“I thought we talked about you not challenging me in front of others.” Peter’s voice was terse and his hands were gripping the steering tightly. 

“And I thought you actually respected me as a person with autonomy, not as a robot pack member to order around.” Stiles spit the words out, glaring back at Peter. 

“Desiring you to be safe is not the same thing as having complete control of your life. I thought you would be mature enough to understand that.” 

Stiles reeled back as if he had been punched in the gut. “Don’t you dare put this on my maturity.” 

Peter snarled, whipping out of the school parking lot at a speed should have probably gotten the alpha pulled over. “Refusing to comply with a reasonable request that has your safety in mind for no reason other than a childish tantrum is a statement of your maturity.” 

He tightened his hands into fists, his claws were starting to come out and he could feel them starting to slice into his palms. “Reasonable request? You call that a reasonable request? Because Lydia driving me to your house with you right behind us, is so fucking dangerous?!” 

“Yes! Because if you aren’t with me then something might happen to you.” 

“That doesn’t make sense!” 

“It doesn’t have to make sense to you, the important thing is for you to obey.” Growling, he glared at the passing landscape. A long silence passed before Peter spoke again. “What was so important to speak to Lydia about?” 

He looked sideways at Peter, who shifted and looked uncomfortable under his gaze. “So, now you care?” 

Peter’s face tightened, “I care if you are potentially giving up pack secrets to an outsider.” 

“You really think I’d do that?” When no answer came, he crossed his arms. “Fine. We used to be friends as kids, my mom would take both her and me up to her aunt’s house. Apparently the aunts know about the supernatural so she went to them for help. Also, apparently I had or have magic.” 

Peter shot him an unreadable look. “Is that so.” 

“Did you know about it?” His bullshit meter was on full alert now as he took in everything about the alpha for clues. 

They were at the gate now, Peter sighed, sinking into the car seat. “I...sensed something different from you ever since that night in the woods when I bit Scott. Instinctually, I was following your scent and it brought me to Scott.” 

“Sensed something different? Peter! That’s the sort of thing you share with your would be mate! Good freaking werewolf gods, what the hell is wrong with you? Does hoarding secrets make you feel like special or more powerful?” 

“No.” Peter was growling again. “It makes me the alpha who tells you what you need to know, when you need to know.” 

“And I don’t need to know about my magic?” Throwing his hands into the air, he winced as a claw sliced into the car ceiling. 

Gritting his teeth, Peter put the car into park. “That’s not what I said. I just haven’t had time to look into every bit of it and I know you, if I had told you then you would never have let it go and probably would have bothered Jennifer about it.” 

“Since when does Jennifer play into this?” He felt confused now, Peter didn’t talk about Jennifer much and Stiles had just decided to avoid the woman as she had made her dislike of him very clear. 

Groaning, Peter pinched his nose. “I don’t have time to talk about this right now. There’s a dead body killed by magic to deal with, your special friend is here and we have the looming threat of Gerard.” 

Before he could open his mouth to object, Peter was out of the car and moving up the walkway. Growling, he slammed the car door shut on his way out, ignoring the irritated look Peter gave him. 

Lydia was waiting for them as they got to the porch steps along with Jackson. The other boy was giving both him and Peter a narrow eyed look but didn’t say anything. He gave Lydia what was probably a weak smile but she just glared at Peter for a moment before snagging his arm and dragging him after her. Peter was still bleeding tension and it was making his own skin crawl. 

Once inside he made her stop moving so Peter could take the lead. The alpha led them all to the office where Jennifer was already waiting. His ears popped when he entered the room and he frowned as he shook his head to clear them out. The large map Peter had used to mark safe places and hunter homes was front and center. The witch had colored pencils out and she was making marks in blue over parts of the map. She looked up as they came into the room, made a few more marks before standing back. 

Always eager to know more things, Stiles moved forward to the table. “What does the blue mean?” 

Jennifer ignored him (like always) to speak to Peter. “I’ve been meditating since I got your message but I can’t feel anything in the currents other than some seem to be fluctuating a bit. Unfortunately I’m not sensitive enough or tuned in enough with the land to be able to get more.” 

“It helps to know that much. Thank you.” Peter frowned at the lines while Stiles was practically vibrating with the need to know what they were talking about. He hated it when someone kept potentially valuable information from him. 

“What are currents? Like electromagnetic currents or air currents? Or secret magic currents?” 

The witch sighed and rubbed her forehead. “You never give up do you?” 

“Of course not! This could be vital information you are keeping from me. What if I need to know this in order to save someone’s life?!” He was outraged at the thought that he would give up trying to get information just because someone was ignoring him. If that were the case he would have probably never learned anything. 

Derek swung a heavy arm around his shoulders and huffed a warm breath of air into his ear. “Telluric currents. Magic users use them to connect over large distances or to know what is happening within a certain territory.” 

He looked at Jennifer with wide eyes, mind racing with all the implications of that. “That’s so awesome. So you can feel magic in the telluric currents? Wait, is that how Lydia’s magic works too? Like do the currents bring her the death omens?” 

The withering look he got in response felt very disproportionate to what he had asked. Letting out a whining noise he swung around to look at Peter who was watching them with a raised eyebrow. Lydia let out an aggravated noise and flounced around to take center stage. 

“Can we focus on something more important please?” Her acid tone caused both Allison and Derek to raise their metaphorical hackles. Derek let out a subsonic growl only the other wolves in the room would have heard. 

He threw his hands into the air. “But Lydia! Information like this is important!” 

She glared at him. “Excuse me for being more concerned that someone died and I had no idea it had happened until long after. According to everything my Aunt told me that shouldn’t happen. If the territory has bonded to me as Peter believes it did when he connected to the Nemeton then everything in Hale land should be felt by me.” 

Peter leaned forward to brace himself against the table. Stiles shifted, still feeling annoyed that Jennifer refused to tell him anything about her magic. The currents just felt important, like they mattered to this and he needed to know about them. Before he could ask again though Jennifer did start speaking. 

“Your Aunt is correct. However, if there was a witch or druid interfering with land then it is possible to hide things from you. Do we know yet how the person was burned?” 

“No.” Everyone looked at him at the word, and Jennifer rolled her eyes. He gritted his teeth and continued. “I’ve been getting updates from the station and Luke thinks they will need to send the body down to Sacramento for the autopsy. There was no sign of anything burning around the body, even under it was clear but no signs that anyone moved it there. Of course, it’s not like Beacon Hills has experts in crime scenes --” 

Jennifer waved her hand in the air, bringing the focus back to herself and cutting him off. “So the most likely explanation at the moment is magic. Lydia, did you sense anything else about the body when you were present?” 

Lydia nodded. “There was a feather, it was a deep orange mixed with red and it was resting on top of the body. It was almost as the fire was still on the feather but I didn’t get a very close look.” 

“I saw it too.” He jumped in the conversation before the witch could speak up. “But then when I asked my dad about it he said there was no feather found. I texted Luke and Tara and they both said the same thing.” 

“Interesting.” Peter murmured, tapping at the darker blue lines Jennifer had put down. “I have not heard of a fire spell so specific. Fire is a very difficult element for any mage to play at. This is not a simple hedgewitch or druid we are dealing with.” 

“I agree, most magic users stay away from fire. It’s too volatile and hard to control. That someone was able to manipulate it so that it only burnt a human body and nothing else…” Jennifer had turned slightly pale. “We are either dealing with a very strong mage or an elemental.” 

“Why though?” The questions needed to be asked, they really did. “Why would they just want to burn someone like that? Also, why are we not looking at the most obvious culprit, Gerard! I mean, Lydia didn’t even realize it had happened until he made eye contact with her.” 

“Yes, I do believe Gerard was connected somehow. The way he was looking at us…” Lydia was quick to jump in, though Peter was shaking his head and Jennifer got a simpering look on her face that he had the sudden urge to claw off it. 

“While I would love to have more things to lay at Gerard Argent’s feet, he is not a mage and the Argent’s might use magic users to get something specific but most of the time they hunt them along with anything else supernatural.” Peter said, giving him a look. “It’s tempting to just equate everything with fire to Argent’s but we can’t make those assumptions.” 

Feeling irritated he opened his mouth to refute that but Jennifer spoke before he could. “And while Lydia is obviously a very helpful resource we can’t put too much stalk into her feelings yet. She’s still new to this and won’t be able to differentiate between types of threats. Gerard is a threat but not this threat.” 

He had to hold back a growl at the insult directed towards his friend. “We shouldn’t just dismiss him either. Just because they haven’t worked with magic users in the past doesn’t mean they wouldn’t now. I wasn’t saying for sure it was him, I was just pointing out we need to look at him too. And while Lydia might just be using her powers that doesn’t mean we can ignore the connections she makes.” 

Peter gave him a narrowed eyed look. “Of course. We also shouldn’t jump to any conclusions until the police know the identity of the body. Hopefully, this has nothing to do with us at all and we can ignore it.” 

“What?” He stared at his alpha in shock. “Why would we…?” 

“If it has nothing to do with us then we don’t need to do anything about it. We have enough to worry about as it is. We are not the supernatural police.” 

He looked away from Peter. There were several things he could say to that but was mindful that he’d already pushed Peter once today and the alpha would not react well to being contradicted in public again. Peter must have taken his silence for compliance and pushed the conversation back to talking about Gerard at the school and how he wanted the pack to behave for the time being. 

It was like his limbs would settle, twitching his fingers, he paced in a quick circle around the room. He couldn’t shake the feeling that what happened with the burnt body was important. It would be a mistake to ignore it and assume it had nothing to do with the Argent’s. Magic or not there had to have been a reason Lydia sensed it when she had. 

Once they had finished going over the entire day in detail and Peter and Lydia had come to some sort of truce for the moment, he grabbed Lydia and towed her out the back door. She went with him with only mild complaints and he ignored the frustrated look Peter gave him. The alpha’s high handedness was starting to grate on him. 

The car had been bad enough but for Peter to let him be so dismissed like this was very frustrating. He also couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something else was wrong. While at times Peter had pulled this shit, the two of them had always been able to come to a good place before parting. 

Then there was Jennifer. At first he had thought the witch’s dislike of him was simply because he was annoying but the level of derision she aimed towards his direction was beginning to make him wonder if something more was going on there. 

Lydia was quiet for the first ten minutes as Stiles directed her around to the edge of the property. Peter was fine with them walking within the walled area not only because of the wards but also the additional human level security that had been installed. He was still ruminating over the Jennifer problem when Lydia spoke up. 

“Do you believe me?” 

He blinked at her a bit, trying to get his mind back on track. “About Gerard? Uh, yeah, of course! I was there. I think I might have felt something too when he looked at you. It was like something cracked or broke, I don’t know. I also don’t want to just start looking for magic now that we know I might have magic…” 

The answer seemed to relieve some of the stress from Lydia and she smiled at him. A real smile, not one of those airy fake ones, a smile that he remembered from before everything had gone to shit. “Do you think Peter is ok with me helping?” 

“Didn’t you guys just hash out some sort of alliance thingy?” 

She rolled her eyes and snorted. “Sure. If you want to call it that. I just don’t know if I can trust him yet. But...I don't think I can do this alone. I’m...scared, Stiles.” 

He paused at the small creek that babbled its way through the forested area of their land. Trying to pick his words carefully for once he thought out his answer slowly. “I get that but all Peter really wants is for his pack to be safe. If you are helping with that then you can absolutely trust him. He’s not going to screw someone over just to screw with them. And if you do become part of the pack then he would do anything to protect you.” 

She gave him a shaky nod so he pulled her into a hug. They stood there for a few minutes until she pulled back. “I should probably be getting home.” 

No one else was visible when they got back to the house other than Jackson who was napping on one of the couches. The jock decided to accept Lydia’s offer of a ride home. Once they had left Stiles debated his options. In the end he went to find Allison and Derek. They were downstairs in the gym area Peter had set up. 

They both paused in their sparring and Allison gave him a guilty look. “I’m sorry I left you there.” 

Shrugging, he started to pull off his top layers. “It’s fine, Ally, I needed to talk to Lydia anyways and she wasn’t going to tell me anything with you around.” As he wrestled off his shoes he growled a bit. The instinct to fight and tear apart anything that was a threat to his pack was very strong right now. As soon as he got his shoes off he launched himself at Derek who easily swept him to the side. He hit the wall with a thump but managed to use the momentum to spring back at the larger beta. 

Allison came at him from the other side and he had to twist away from his attack on Derek to avoid her swiping claws. He felt his fangs start to extend and he snarled at the new threat. Derek let the two of them pound into each other for a few minutes before he threw them to opposite sides of the room. 

“Enough. We do this, we do this right. Stiles, your emotions are too volatile right now. Allison, don’t let his increased aggression hype you up as well. We can use the pack bonds to stabilize each other in a fight. I want Stiles to go through the footwork exercises before any more sparring.” 

Feeling anger surging up inside him he growled at Derek and tried to attack the beta again. Derek just rolled his eyes and slammed him into the ground, holding him down there until he got the shift back under control. Feeling shaky, he pulled himself up and let Derek set him through a brutal workout. The older wolf made him go through the footwork exercises so many times he was sure his feet were going to fall off. Once Derek was mostly satisfied with that he made Stiles come at him the same five ways for the next hour. Every time Stiles lost focus and tried to just attack at random, Derek would hold him down until he relaxed and then they did all over again. 

When Derek finally let him go upstairs (Allison had gone up two hours before him) it was nearing eight at night. Peter was nowhere to be seen still but Allison was there, working on homework. She had food ready for both of them and he fell upon it feeling like a starving animal. Peter still hadn’t returned by the time he had showered, worked on homework and gotten ready for bed. He hovered in the hallway for what felt like an eternity, chewing on his lip as he tried to decide which room to sleep in. Deciding he wouldn’t be able to sleep in either room alone he went back out and crashed on the couch. 

The nerves were still flying through him. It had been lessened by the intense workout he had gone through with Derek and a little bit Allison but now, in the darkness, they all came tumbling back. He kept running the conversation in the study back through his mind. He’d hated how he’d felt when Peter had dismissed him. He hadn’t thought his ego was that bad that he couldn’t take criticism but the more he thought about it all the more he realized that it wasn’t because Peter had disagreed that hurt. What had hurt was that Peter had sided with Jennifer over him. 

After about ten minutes of trying to distract himself with youtube and it not working he got back up and paced around the main floor for a bit. After the third time he found himself standing outside the study he finally pushed on the door. To his relief, it was unlocked but he still shut it quietly behind himself. The room itself was soundproofed as much as it could be like all the bedrooms in the house were. He turned on a light and zeroed in on the book shelves. 

The first thing he learned was that he was really going to have to learn latin. The second thing he decided was that they really needed some sort of reference category for the books. They seemed to be shelved in a random order and most of them didn’t have titles on the spines so it was a complete crapshoot for trying to find a specific subject. Eventually, he managed to find a good half dozen books that were in english or close enough to english that mentioned banshees. 

The first book ended up being useless as all it had was the very basics. The second was a bit better but read too much like a fairy tale for him to feel confident in its accuracy. The third was in some form of middle english and difficult to sparse out. It seemed to be an account of a werewolf pack in the 1500s trying to convince a banshee to join them. He put it aside for the moment and picked up the fourth book. This one sent a tingling feeling up his arm when he had touched it on the shelf so it was with a decent amount of trepidation that he opened it with. 

It was a journal. Sort of. Maybe? He couldn’t tell for certain. It was also written in Polish he realized, with a jolt, after he had already read the first three sentences. He had to read over the sentences again to reassure himself that he wasn’t going crazy. The Polish he had learned from his mom shouldn’t have stayed with him enough to be able to read something like this. However, yes, it was Polish and yes, he could read it. Deciding that for the moment he wasn’t going to worry about the whys, he started to read. 

He was so engrossed in the reading that he didn’t notice the study door opening. It wasn’t until someone was standing right over him that he noticed. Yelping, he jumped to the side and half scrambling away, still clutching the book. 

“What are you doing in here?” Jennifer’s mouth was tight and she looked like she was about to eviscerate him. 

Feeling incredibly done with everything he pulled himself to his feat and glared back at her. “I’m researching. I wasn’t aware anything in this house was off limits to pack members.” 

“It doesn’t need saying that these books are off limits. Look at the mess you have made, do you even know which shelves you took these from?” 

Closing his eyes he held back the growl that was threatening to come out. He was sure that if he was an actual wolf all his fur would be standing straight up. “The last I checked these are Hale books, therefore they belong to Peter and Derek. I am part of the Hale pack and unless Peter tells me otherwise I can read whatever I damn well please out of them. And yes, I marked each spot I took a book with a piece of tape.” 

He settled a bit as he smelled the sour scent of frustration growing. It was a common reaction to him and since he’d become a werewolf he’d become adept at noticing that scent in particular. This time he felt a little thrill of victory at creating it in her. Her fingers clenched imperceptibly as her nostrils flared. Her frustration was converting to anger. He met her gaze squarely, refusing to back down. 

“Look, I don’t know why you don’t like me or refuse to see me as having anything useful to give to the pack. If it’s something I did, then please tell me so I can apologize or make up for it or do something.” 

The short, bitter, laugh she let out surprised him. “You are just a child playing at being something important. I don’t hate you, Stiles, I just think you’re worthless. You were an anchor for Peter when he needed a loyal beta but that is all you are useful for. Now, you’re just a liability if he decides to listen to you.” 

The words felt like a punch in the gut. It was like all his fears had been laid out before him. Weakly, he tried to protest. “But, I’m his mate and…” Tears stung his eyes as another laugh cut him off. 

“Peter wasn’t fully sane when he bit you. Just because he thought you were his mate then and gave you the mating bite doesn’t mean it’s true. He’ll figure out his mistake eventually and you’ll just be a lowly beta again. At least Derek and Allison are good fighters and obey. You just sit there and object and question him and me. Know your place in this pack, it’s just to keep Peter stable.” 

Not being able to take anymore he fled the study. He was able to hold back the tears until he had crawled into the bed in the room they had set up for his dad’s sake. Burying his head in his pillow he tried to muffle his sobs with it. What if she was right? It was all his darkest fears about this whole situation thrown in his face. Her deep hate had felt almost alive and he shuddered at remembering it directed at him. What if Peter was going to get tired of him? He knew he was annoying and often irritated people but he thought Peter was different. 

Desperately he tried to hold onto everything Peter had told him and how good he’d felt the night before. It was hard to remember Peter’s encouraging words though as he lay in the dark and was alone. Jennifer’s cruel words seemed to stay on replay in his brain and he couldn’t shake them. It didn’t help that Peter never came into the room that night and he ended up barely sleeping. 

When he finally got himself together enough to leave the room again, both Allison and Derek were awake and almost finished with breakfast. His gut clenched at the sight of Jennifer standing there. The witch was actually smiling as she talked with the two of them. Peter was also sitting at the counter, frowning heavily at something on his computer. Stiles got food and ate in silence, ignoring the concerned look Allison gave him. 

“Stiles.” Peter’s voice broke through the chatter and he flinched slightly. Looking up he saw the alpha frowning at him and he had the crippling urge to hide. “Jennifer says she found you in the study last night making a mess of the books. I know you are curious about magic and everything to do with the supernatural but please wait until either I or Jennifer directs you before taking anything off the shelves.” 

He bit down against the hot anger that burned up in him and nodded. Peter frowned again and looked like he was about to say something but Jennifer chimed in before he could. “Actually, I had a thought to maybe help with that curiosity. I know there is a lot for both Stiles and Allison to learn so maybe we should have some scheduled times for them to ask questions or be taught pack history.” 

The smile Peter gave the witch made the sick feeling in Stiles’ gut churn faster. “That’s an excellent idea. Thank you, Jennifer.” 

Not being able to take in any more of the atmosphere and worried he was going to start crying again, he jumped up and fled the room. He managed to get his school things and was in his jeep before anyone caught up to what he was doing. Surprisingly, he was actually able to drive the jeep out of the community without anyone stopping him. Peter did try to call him twice and he ignored the calls both times. They must have called Jackson because the jock was waiting for him when he came up to the Whittemore driveway. 

The other teen climbed into the passenger seat and glared around the jeep. “Seriously Stilinski, they should let me be in the pack just for being willing to be seen in this monstrosity. You are ruining all my street cred.” 

“Jennifer hates me.” 

Jackson rolled his eyes expressively. “Tell me something I don’t know, idiot.” 

He gaped at the other boy. “What?” 

“She’s jealous, you moron, she wants Peter all to herself but you got in there and she’s like who is this kid and hates you. Lydia and I just talked about yesterday when she drove me home.” 

Not knowing what to say to that, he pulled the keep out of Whittemore's driveway and started driving towards school. “Do you think Peter likes her?” He finally asked after several minutes of awkward silence. 

Jackson hit him on the shoulder. “No! You moronic imbecile. He is totally in love with you so much it's sickening. He was all pissy yesterday when you went off with Lydia. Then our witch was all like oooh young love and stupid rot to him and he got all ruffled and disappeared.” 

Feeling a bit like an idiot, Stiles slumped into his seat. “Oh.” 

“Yes, oh. Now, please can we not talk about this anymore. I did not sign up to play therapist to you and alpha asshole. Let’s talk about how we are going to spy on Gerard instead.” 

“You believe us about Gerard?” He shoved all his thoughts about Peter and Jennifer to the side for the moment. They needed to focus on the bigger picture, not his hurt feelings. 

Jackson gave him another insulted look. “Of course. Like you and Lydia aren’t not only the smartest people in Beacon Hills but also have magic. She and I are back together by the way. So we can have cover with her mom.” 

They pulled up to the school before he could think of a response to that. It was probably better that he leave it alone anyways. Jackson and Lydia could sort themselves out. He had his own romantic problems, like an apparently jealous alpha and a witch in love with said alpha and who hated him because the apha was in love with him. Gah. 

Feeling moody, he slammed the jeep door shut and glared at the school. He’d have to corner Allison at some point today and try to explain everything. He just hoped that she would believe him and not call him crazy. Jackson bumped shoulders with him and raised an eyebrow. Nodding back, he steeled himself for another day of avoiding evil principals who were out to kill him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kind words last chapter! I appreciate you all!

As soon as they heard the front door shut behind Stiles Allison turned an annoyed look towards Peter. The alpha bristled slightly. “What?” 

Derek huffed and set his mug of coffee down before bracing himself against the counter. “You know what.” 

“No, nephew, I do not know what. Now, if either of you would kindly tell me what has you both in a snit please do.” 

Allison sighed and pulled out her phone to text Jackson. She hoped that Stiles would go straight to Jackson to pick up their friend and not enter the school alone. The thought of him doing that filled her with anxiety and she glared at Peter over her phone. He glared back at her. 

“Seriously?” She asked, slamming the phone on the counter. “You have to ask what when your so called mate just fled the room reeking of rejection and anger? What the fuck, Peter?” 

Peter somehow bristled even harder. Standing up to his full height, the alpha gave her a clear look of dismissal. “I don’t think you have any right to question how I handle Stiles. All I did was lay down some ground rules.” 

“Without waiting to hear his side of anything! Also, for fucks sake, this is Stiles we are talking about. Of course he is going to go through the library and look for answers into himself or Lydia. It’s amazing he hasn’t already torn that whole place apart in an attempt to read every book on the shelf. Denying Stiles to find his own information is like denying him air.” 

“It’s not safe for him to be experimenting with those books and he was being completely careless with them. Some of those books are incredibly old and need to be handled with care.” Jennifer said in a condescending tone that put Allison’s teeth on edge. She narrowed her eyes at the witch and wondered just what this woman’s problem was with Stiles. 

“That doesn’t sound like Stiles.” Derek was frowning at Jennifer as he spoke. The older beta then looked towards Peter. “But it must have been more than the rebuke that bothered him. He was smelling like rejection and pain before you said anything.” 

“Well, I don’t know why. I’m not a mind reader Derek. Besides he’s probably run off to his little friend. She can help him.” Peter was getting visibly riled up now and actually flashed red eyes at Derek. Allison gaped at him a bit then ran through what he said and the events of the previous day. 

“Are you jealous?” She asked, feeling incredulous. It was like a wall slammed up over Peter’s face. He growled at them all before turning and stalking out of the room. Jennifer sighed deeply, then she too walked out, leaving Allison and Derek alone. 

Allison turned to Derek who was looking vaguely irritated. The beta shook his head at her and began cleaning up. Her phone buzzing distracted her from asking him what the hell had just happened. It was from Jackson saying Stiles had arrived. Feeling relieved, she was able to help Derek finish cleaning up before heading out to his car. She was a little shocked that Peter hadn’t raised a fuss about Stiles driving out alone. There was a wrong feeling that was itching under her skin. She didn’t like how any of that had gone down this morning. 

Once they had reached the main road outside of the gated community she couldn’t handle the silence any longer. “Ok, so please tell me that was also weird to you.” 

Derek gave a deep sigh as if the whole world was against him. “Yes, it was weird. You’re right, he is jealous.” 

“But that doesn’t make sense.” She said, feeling irritation bleed into her words. “There is nothing to be jealous over. Even I can smell that Stiles isn’t interested in Lydia as more than a friend and even as that he’s not sure.” 

Derek shrugged. “Jennifer was weird too.” 

“Oh, I guess I haven’t paid enough attention to her to notice that.” Allison bit her lip, trying to think back over the past few days and what Jennifer had been like. 

“She’s been weird since you two moved in the house. It’s been obvious since the beginning she doesn’t like Stiles but now…” Derek shrugged again before looking moodily out of the car window. 

“This is all stupid.” She groaned and flopped back against her seat. “We need to be focused on Gerard and this possible other threat. Not about Peter’s weirdness because Stiles has a history with someone.” 

Derek hummed in agreement but the rest of the ride was passed in silence. It wasn’t until they pulled up again at the school that he spoke again. “I’m going to be around town, text or call me if you need anything and I’ll be waiting to drive you home or follow you and Stiles back.” 

“Thank you.” She gave him a smile and quickly leaned over to rub their cheeks together before she could chicken out. His scent was surprised but pleased and she could feel herself blushing as she pulled back. 

Jackson and Stiles were hanging out near the front of the school. Both boys straightened as she approached. She reached towards Stiles and he fell into her offered hug eagerly. “Hey, you need to talk to us and not just bail like that, ok?” 

Stiles winced and gave her a sheepish look. “Ok...I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stay there with...Jennifer and Peter looking at me like that. But yeah, I shouldn’t have gone out alone.” 

“Peter’s being an idiot. I don’t know what’s wrong with Jennifer but please try and ignore her.” 

“I’ll try.” Stiles’ tone did not sound promising but they didn’t have time to keep talking as the first bell rang. 

Classes felt a bit surreal to be in, after everything that had happened, and how she had skipped yesterday. Luckily, all the teachers were willing to cut her some slack as the home she was living in had burned down. It also seemed that the sheriff had called the school about her in concern over her mother and grandfather working there. Most of the teachers seemed fairly irritated with the unexpected change of principals and were all giving her a fair amount of leeway because of it. In a small town like Beacon Hills, everyone had heard about her falling out with her family almost as soon as it happened. 

Nothing outside of the normal happened all day. None of them, even Lydia, even saw Gerard or Victoria. It almost made her more nervous in their absence. She knew her mother and knew the woman was not going to give up on this. Once her mother had decided something was right or something was wrong, there was no swaying her from that conviction. 

Without the distraction of Gerard or her mother the interaction with her dad from the night before the fire started filtering into her thoughts again. It was something she had managed to mostly not think about with all the aftermath of the fire. But now, it seemed like her mind would not leave it alone. She kept circling back to the idea that some in her family believed that she was some sort of reincarnation of the original Argent. The idea should have been ludacris but with all these new supernatural things in her life, nothing seemed too far fetched anymore. 

In her open period, she pulled out an empty notebook and started to write down everything she knew about the Argents so far. With Gerard in town, her mother on the rampage and her father’s belief that other hunters would be watching them in Beacon Hills, it was time to know as much as possible about her family. What she knew was abysmal, it barely covered three pages of the notebook. Tapping the pencil against the page, she bit her lip in annoyance. 

There was a solution here. It was an obvious one but one that she wasn’t sure Peter would approve of. The independent side of her wanted to just do it anyways without permission, but the new instincts of hers were telling her that she needed the alpha’s blessing. Her phone mocked her from where it sat on the table by the notebook. Biting her lip, she picked up and put it back down again. Growling to herself, she thudded her head against the table. 

“Trouble with something?” Lydia’s smooth voice startled Allison. Wrenching herself up she gave the redhead an irritated look. 

“No.” 

“Hmm.” Lydia pulled out a chair to sit next to her and cast a dubious eye over the notebook. Allison quickly slammed it shut and bared her teeth. Lydia rolled her eyes and primly began to unload her bag onto the table. “Well, I was going to offer to help with...whatever that is. But I can see you are in a mood.” 

“I don’t need you help.” 

“Clearly.” Lydia said with a hint of scoff in her voice that set Allison’s teeth on edge. What was it about this girl that everyone liked so much? She did not understand Stiles’ obsession over her, or Jackson’s for that matter. 

“Why are you here?” 

Lydia gave her a long look. She had to resist the urge to let her fangs drop and snarl at the other girl. Seriously, every conversation with Lydia was one of the most frustrating things. “I am here to apologize.” 

That surprised her. She sat back against her chair and blinked stupidly. “What?” 

Lydia grimaced and looked down at the books in front of her. A pale hand smoothed over a page. “About Scott. I let my emotions get the better of me and became that bitch I swore I would never be. I crossed a line and I’m sorry. I don’t know if we’ll ever be friends but we both obviously care about Stiles so I would like us to at least not be enemies.” 

Allison wasn’t sure how to respond to that so she sat in silence for a few moments. “Thank you for the apology. I...I don’t know if we can be friends either. You do know that nothing happened with Jackson and I?” 

The other girl looked away and winced. “Yes. Stiles has informed me quite adamantly about it. I think I just realized I was losing something that I was actually afraid of losing and I panicked. I needed to blame someone else so I didn’t blame myself. Not my finest moment. Also, Jackson was trying to get at you to get at Scott so it wasn’t completely out of nowhere. My mistake was in blaming you.” 

Really not knowing how to respond to this, she stayed silent for a moment, before pulling out the book they were reading for English. Before she opened it she did look over at Lydia again. “You’re right. With everything going on and if you are going to be in our pack, then we shouldn’t be enemies. However, pull any crap with Stiles or hurt him by abandoning him again and I will make your life miserable.” 

Lydia gave her a small smile. “Sounds fair.” 

Right before the study period ended, Allison unlocked her phone and sent out the text she had been mentally debating for most of the day. _We need to talk. Neutral ground?_. Shoving her phone into her backpack she tried to put all her focus into school for the rest of the afternoon. By the times classes let out, her gut was rolling and she shakily opened her phone again. The answer was waiting for her. _Thursday, 5pm, diner at Douglas City._ She texted back a confirmation and quickly went to meet Stiles at his jeep. 

As soon as they pulled out of the school lot, she turned to him and demanded answers about the morning. “Also, what happened with Jennifer?” 

The boy deflated a bit and slumped against the steering wheel as he waited for a light to turn green. “Ugg...Jax said she’s jealous of me and Peter. But um, yeah, last night I was looking for information in the library and she freaked out at me. Said all this stuff about me being useless and Peter won’t need me soon and I’m just a child who should leave everything alone.” 

Allison could smell the dejection emanating off Stiles and it made her furious. “That bitch. How dare she say those things to you. Then lie to Peter too. Bitch.” Growling she pulled out her phone to start sending texts to Derek. She knew the other beta was driving but was determined to keep him as updated as possible. 

Stiles just smelled more dejected. “What if she’s right though? Peter was a little off his rocker when he bit me. Maybe this mate thing isn’t really true or he’ll realize he made a mistake. He never showed up last night. I waited...and then this morning it was like he hated me...I can’t -- Ally, I can’t go through that again.” 

She paused in her texting and took in all the devastation leaking out of Stiles. “Pull over.” 

“Uh, what?” 

“Pull over. I need to say some things then hug the shit out of you and it won’t work while you’re driving.” 

With only mild groaning, Stiles pulled over and parked on a side street. They could both hear the distinctive thrum of the camaro pulling up behind them. Huffing out a breath, Stiles turned to her with narrowed eyes. “Look, I don’t just need an ego booster speech if that’s your plan. I --” 

Derek pulled open the passenger door, effectively cutting Stiles off. Allison, scrambled into the back so Derek could hop in and shut the door again. The beta glared at Stiles. “You’re Peter's mate. It’s not something any wolf could ever mistake, that scent. He’s downplayed it with you because he doesn’t want to freak you out. But you are it. You feel it too, you just don’t trust it yet. Peter is letting Jennifer and his own insecurities about your age and lack of consent get to him right now.” 

Stiles had scrunched into himself while Derek was talking and was now in as tight of a ball as he could around the steering wheel. Allison could smell his confusion hurt more clearly now. It made her whine a bit in sympathy. She pushed up against the back seat so she could reach a hand around to rub at Stiles’ back. 

“But why would Jennifer not liking me suddenly affect him then?” 

Derek scowled at the dash and flicked his claws in and out before answering. “She, uh, found out about what you two did the other night, when he snuck into your room…” 

Stiles made a strangled noise and banged his head against the steering wheel. His scent shifted to give off embarrassment mixed with the hurt smell. “Oh gods…” 

“I heard her push him about it, like how can you be sure he really consents with the bond and he’s your beta and you’re his alpha you need to be careful to not take advantage and shit like that. I know he doesn’t come across this way but Peter is actually worried about that with you. He knows he wasn’t all there when he turned you. He should have waited until he could ask about the wolf part, then done that, then waited until you were settled enough to feel the mate pull more fully. But he was desperate and he needed that extra anchor of mate so he did give you the mate bite.” 

Derek stopped with another deep sigh before reaching out a hand and gripping the back of Stiles’ neck. “He loves you Stiles. He really does. He’s just being stupid right now. Give him time to sort it out and talk to him if you can. Ease up on the Lydia stuff too, I know you are convinced it’s the key to Gerard and I don’t disagree but take it slow for the moment.” 

A long silence followed this unexpected speech. Stiles uncurled a bit and looked over at Derek in a little bit of awe. “Shit, sourwolf, I think that’s the longest monologue I’ve ever heard you give.” Derek growled and lightly cuffed him on the head. Grinning, Stiles ducked his head and huffed. “But yeah, thanks, I appreciate it. I appreciate both of you. I’ll try but Jennifer...she really hates me and I don’t know what to do about that. I don’t want her to win, you know? Like, I feel like if I do nothing then she wins.” 

“You’re not alone.” Allison said, squeezing at his side. “We’re here for you and we’ll help. We’ll keep an eye on Jennifer and try to counteract any stupid stuff she says. And it doesn’t mean you can’t call Peter out for being shitty. Especially if you guys shared something intimate and then he’s doing the equivalent of ghosting you, that’s not something you have to take.” 

She was glad to smell a little bit of happiness leaking back into his scent. He smiled back at her. “You’re a good friend. You know just because I have history with Lydia doesn’t mean you don’t rank first, ok?” 

“You’re a good friend too, and yeah, I know. Also, she came and made a truce with me today.” 

“No shit. Huh. Well, that’s a good sign.” 

They all sat there a little longer, soaking up the warmth of being together. Eventually, they did need to continue the drive home though, so Derek moved back to the camaro and Stiles started the jeep up again. When they got home, neither Peter or Jennifer were there. Derek bullied Stiles into changing clothes then took both of them on a rather brutal fitness routine. After that he worked on sparring with both of them until dinner time. 

Noah actually showed up, so then they had to scramble to put something together for dinner. After dinner, she and Stiles worked on homework until bed. They were both trying to work forward whenever they could, just in case something happened again that made them miss days of school. She could tell that the closer it got to bedtime, the more antsy Stiles was getting. Derek must have noticed as well because just as they decided to stop working, the beta appeared and aggressively cuddled Stiles into the couch. 

Peter made an appearance just as Noah was putting his foot down and making her and Stiles go to bed. Stiles visibly perked up but the alpha only did cursory scenting of all of them before announcing that he was going to spend the night patrolling.

“When do you sleep?” Stiles was frowning at Peter while hovering anxiously, just out of the alpha’s space. It made Allison even more annoyed with Peter. Couldn’t the idiot see how his behavior was affecting all of them? It wasn’t just Stiles that was being bothered by all this. Both her and Derek were also struggling with the discord in the pack. 

“I’ll sleep in the morning and early afternoon like I did today. I patrolled last night as well and I think I’ll be doing it every night for a while, until things settle down.” 

“Good idea. I’m getting worried about Argent having access to the school.” Noah said, standing up. He gave his son a long searching look before wrapping an arm around Stiles’ shoulders. “Let’s get you to bed, you look like you do after going full out after an all nighter.” Stiles grumbled but let his dad lead him back into the house. Allison turned a glare on Peter, who ignored her completely to move into the kitchen. 

“I don’t want to hear anything from either of you. I know what I’m doing and it’s none of your concern.” 

“Bullshit.” Allison was seething now. Peter whirled around, flashing red eyes and growling at her. She felt her fangs drop and her own eyes flash in response. “Don’t just flash those eyes at us everytime we tell you something you don’t want to hear. Of course this is our concern. Stiles is miserable and it’s your fault. Go fix it. Alpha.” 

For a long moment, she held his gaze firmly. There was real fear going through her. What if Peter kicked her out for this? She was still trying to find her place here in this pack, and in her relationship with Peter. But she could there was no way for her to let this go. Snarling, Peter broke his gaze away first and stormed to the patio door. He dragged his clothes off as he went, just as he opened the door, he shifted into full wolf form and loped off through the darkness. 

“Shit. Shit. Fuck!” She spun around to vent to Derek, only to find him leaning up against the wall and shaking slightly. “Derek?” 

He flinched a bit. “I’m sorry, it’s just...I know you don’t feel it as much yet. The bond is still settling, I could just, he was so sad and angry. You challenged the alpha, Allison and he looked away first. It was just a lot of backlash.” 

Carefully, she approached him. When he didn’t pull back, she wrapped him in a hug. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you pain.” 

Whining, he tucked his head into her shoulder. “I know. It’ll be ok. He needed to hear it.” 

After Derek had recovered the two of them went back to their rooms and got ready for bed. Listening carefully to Noah, who had also gone to his room, they waited until it sounded for sure that the sheriff wouldn’t be coming out again. Then they snuck into Stiles’ room. The teen hastily shoved a book under his pillow then blinked at them. 

“Uh, hi?” 

“We’re all sleeping here tonight because Peter is an idiot and I challenged an alpha and then Derek got upset because of how Peter felt in the pack bond.” 

“Oh, shit, wow. Ok.” 

Derek flung himself into the bed and on top of Stiles, squishing the slightly smaller body into the mattress. “I get the edge.” 

Giggling, Allison went on Stiles’ other side and climbed in. “What did you just hide?” 

“Uhhh…” A guilty scent wafted across the room. 

“Book from the library.” Derek said, mumbling the words into Stiles’ neck. Allison’s eyes widened. 

“Stiles…” 

“I know, I know, but guys, it’s in Polish! And I can read it and I shouldn’t be able to read it, well, I mean I probably should be able to read a few words but not like, the whole thing perfectly, but I can. It’s magic and it’s mine. So uh, yeah…” 

Derek made an aggrieved noise. “I don’t care. Turn off the light and go to sleep.” 

“Fine, fine, fine...be the grumpywolf we all know you were meant to be.” 

The light went off, followed by a smacking noise and a startled, “hey!” from Stiles. Allison settled into the bed until she could bump against her friend. Giggling, she tugged at him. Grumbling, he laid back down. Derek let out a deeply satisfied noise and rolled back on top of Stiles. Feeling contentedness wash over the room, Allison let herself relax into sleep. 

Wednesday passed much the same as Tuesday had. Except, no sign of Peter at breakfast. Jennifer was also absent, which was a relief as she still wasn’t sure how to interact with the witch after the revelations of the previous day. School passed without any major incidents and before she knew it, they were back at the house and training with Derek again. Her nerves were ramped up, thinking of her plan the next day and having no idea how to go about accomplishing it. 

She knew that both Peter and Derek would be completely against the idea. Stiles might be convinced it was worth it but she really didn’t want to add any stress onto him. Also, it meant he would have to keep something from Peter, which she didn’t want to ask him to do. By the evening, she had decided to text Jackson about it. The jock was dubious as well but agreed to be her driver. He pushed her strongly to tell one of the other pack members, stating that he didn’t want to be responsible in case something went wrong. 

After another hour of internal debate she went to find Noah. Derek and Stiles were in a heated argument over the best way to make oatmeal raisin cookies. The debate had already diverged into some sort of actual bake off happening in the kitchen, so neither of them paid any attention to her when she wandered off. Noan, thankfully, didn’t say anything, just ushered her into the room with a raised eyebrow. He waited out her wandering explanation patiently and was silent for a long few minutes after she had finished. Nervously, she paced the small room for half the time until she forced herself to stand still. 

“I think the plan is sound. It’s not without risks but…” Noah heaved a sigh. “No plan is without risks right now. You’re right. We need more information and this could be our best bet to get it. The only change I’d make is that I’m going to go with you.” 

Startled, she looked away from the wall she had been studying. “You will?” 

He gave her a small smile. “I think that’ll make it go smoother with the rest of them too. As annoyed as I get with Peter, the not being alone part is important. I can arrange a few shifts so I can pick you up from school tomorrow.” 

“Thank you, it means a lot to me that you’d support me.” Relief was rushing through her at the idea of having Noah’s comforting presence at her side. 

“Of course. You kids have been through hell this past month and you shouldn’t have to face it alone.” Feeling tears start to prick at her eyes, she ducked her head. “Aw, kid, come here.” Noah’s voice was soft and she looked back at him, he offered a hug, which she paused only a moment before gladly falling into it. It felt like ages since she’d had such a good warm solid hug from a dad. 

The next morning she was still trying to figure out how to say that Noah would be picking her up from school when the sheriff solved the problem for her. 

“Derek, would you mind driving the kids in today then picking up Stiles after school ends?” 

Derek frowned from over his coffee cup, hazel eyes flicking to Allison. “Just Stiles?” 

“Yeah, there is some paperwork Allison needs to go over at the station. Just routine things, so I figured I’d pick her up and then bring her back here when we’re through.” 

Relaxing, Derek nodded and replied in the affirmative. Allison was impressed, she hadn’t heard the sheriff’s heartbeat blip once. The man’s scent also gave out none of the chemo signals associated with someone hiding something. 

School was torture to get through. The urge to tell Stiles, just to have someone to commiserate with over what she had to do, was overwhelming. Something kept holding her back, she wasn’t sure if it was that she thought he’d disagree or the fear he’d tell Peter. Not that, she thought grimacing, things with Peter were any better yet. It was really becoming an issue and she knew that Jennifer’s absence was causing Stiles anxiety as well. The witch only seemed to show up when Peter was around, making it impossible for Stiles to do much around the alpha. 

By the time school got out she was a stressed out mess. She actually found herself thankful for Lydia in that the redhead had been distracting Stiles for most of the day. The two of them had been passing notes or trying to subtly text each other for the majority of the day. If Allison hadn’t been happy that this meant that Stiles wasn’t paying her as much attention she would have been annoyed about it. As it was, she knew she should probably have been paying more attention to what they were talking about, but couldn’t bring herself to focus on anything other than the coming meeting. 

When the final bell rang, she practically ran out of the school. Noah was already waiting for her and within minutes they were on the road. The trip over to Douglas City was done in silence, other than the sheriff asking a few clarifying questions. As they pulled up the small diner, her nerves buzzed so much that she felt her claws pop out. “Shit.” 

Noah looked over and gently reached out a hand to cover her own. “Hey, whatever happens, remember you have people who care about you. And yes, your dad had a really shitty reaction when he found out about you…” Noah trailed off and waved his hand in the air as if to say, becoming a werewolf, without actually saying it. “But I know he does love you. I know a bit about having shitty reactions to finding that out about your child. I didn’t respond well and I’m still regretting it. I think your dad is too.” 

Taking in a deep breath then letting it out, she squeezed Noah’s had tightly. “Thanks, I appreciate it. Though...you need to say that to Stiles, ok? He still thinks you don’t like that side of him and he’s hurting.” 

Wincing, Noah squeezed back on her hand as he huffed out a breath. “Yeah, ok, that’s fair. Thank you for being honest.” Catching her eye, he smiled. “Now, I don’t know about you but I’m craving pie.” 

The topic change startled her into laughter which made it easier to get out of the car and follow Noah into the diner. They only had about ten minutes before her father pulled in. As he walked into the diner she had to hold back a startled noise. He looked like he had aged years in the last week. There was week old growth on his beard, his shoulders were sagging and there was a listless look in his eyes. She almost leapt up to hug him but the words from the last time they saw each other stopped her. Biting her lip, she watched his hesitant progress to them. 

“Allison. Sheriff.” 

“Chris.” Noah said, eyeing the other man up and down with a critical eye. 

“Dad.” Her voice cracked slightly. Her dad winced, looking away before releasing a breath and settling into the booth with them. 

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you didn’t come alone.” His voice was quiet, defeated almost. It made her heart ache in ways she thought it couldn’t anymore. 

Noah just raised his eyebrows and huffed lightly. “You really shouldn’t.” 

“I…” Running a hand over his face, Chris trailed off. 

“Dad, I, um...I wanted to ask more questions. About the Argents and hunters.” She was proud that her voice stayed strong now. 

Chris looked at her now, long and searching. “They would say I would be betraying trust to tell a werewolf family secrets.” 

“But I’m not just a werewolf. I am still an Argent.” 

There was a silence while Chris gazed down again. One hand was fiddling with the edge of the sling he was still wearing. When he finally spoke, there was a resigned quality to the air around him. She could scent his sadness. “You are. Yes, you are. What do you want to know?” 

Relief flooded through her and she smiled. “Everything. But most of all, I need to know how to contact the Matriarch.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful comments! I'm so happy that so many of you are so invested in this story. It makes me so happy!

Lydia kept the polite smile on her face only because of years of practice. The complete ineptitude of the members of the group project she had been assigned to for English was astounding. For what was probably the one hundredth time that night, she cursed her English teacher. 

Most teachers by now let Lydia either work alone or pick her own group members. This English teacher had only started this semester as a fill in for Mrs. Farrow who was on maternity leave. The replacement had scoffed at Lydia’s request to work alone and now she was stuck with two of the stupider members of the Beacon Hills football team. That Beacon Hills even had a football team was already atrocious but that she was stuck babysitting two of them? It was not to be tolerated. 

Her phone buzzed, which was a pleasant distraction from the inane babble. Unlocking it, she smiled smugly at the message, it was from Stiles. She had been working on convincing him all day to sneak out with her after school on Friday to go with her to visit her Aunts. He’d been dragging his feet about it, saying that he didn’t want to disobey Peter. Apparently though, whatever happened when he went home today had changed his mind. Not for the first time this week, she blessed Peter Hale for being an absolute moron. It had made her reintroduction to Stiles’ good graces go so much smoother. 

Looking back up at her group project members, she decided that enough was enough. Standing up, she told them she’d talk to them tomorrow and sauntered out of the room. It didn’t matter how much time they spent together, she’d simply end up doing all the work on her own. It was the only way to assure it was all done to her exacting standards. Nothing, not even inadequate english teachers, would stop her from her perfect grade. 

When she reached her car, she idly shot off a couple of texts to various classmates. The fervor against Gerard Argent had become a simmering rage underneath the exterior of the school. It was incredibly gratifying to know that it was because of her that an entire school was against its principal. Students had been signing petitions, putting out flyers, even going as far to stage a protest outside the man’s office on Wednesday. 

Watching the principal's growing ire at the students’ dislike had been one of the most enjoyable parts of the week. It was clear the man had no idea how to truly hold onto his agreable persona when there was such obvious hatred against him. Gerard Argent was a man who was used to everyone fearing him to the point where they obeyed him immediately. He had obviously never spent an extended period of time with multiple teenagers.

Even though Gerard was clearly an idiot, she was used to analyzing and breaking down her fellow classmates (and a few teachers) but someone like Argent was a different beast. The next stage would be finding something new to connect with Argent. If nothing happened for too long, everyone would lose interest. It would require some careful thought on how to lay some other atrocity at the man’s feet. 

Her phone lit up with a text from Stiles, distracting her from her thoughts about Argent. Glancing at it, she smiled. The other good thing to come from all this was that she had been able to become friends with Stiles again. To her further advantage, with everything that happened, nobody was paying them much attention. Meaning that her reputation wasn’t taking a dive from becoming friends with Stiles again. 

She made the turn into her driveway and stopped the car. Blinking, she paused with her hand on the door handle. That was odd, she didn’t remember ever starting the car or leaving the school. Shaking her head, she dismissed the loss of memory as just being too preoccupied with the thoughts from earlier. When she stepped out of the car and landed in dirt, the confusion came back. Since when had her driveway been dirt? Cautiously, she looked up and felt her heartbeat start speeding up. 

This wasn’t her house, or her driveway, this was the preserve. Taking in deep breaths, she slowly turned around. The Hale house stood black and unwelcoming in the distance. It’s charred sides almost felt like they were whispering things to her. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm her racing heart down. How had she gotten here? How was this even possible? Ok, this was fine, this wasn’t crazy, she wasn’t crazy. 

Opening her eyes, she almost tripped over a broken floorboard. No, no, no… It was the Hale house, she was inside the Hale house. Spinning around in a tight circle, she hugged herself, shaking uncontrollably now. What was happening to her? With numb fingers, she fumbled for her cell phone and dropped it. There was a dull clattering noise as it slipped through the cracks of the floorboards. 

She dropped to her knees and almost panicked when she realized that the hole went all the way through. “No, no…” 

The walls felt like they were closing in on her now. Whispered words of pain and death, and prayers for survival washed over her. Movement out of the corner of her eye made her shriek and scramble to her feet. Nothing was there. She whipped around in a tight circle to check again. Still nothing. Her breathing felt harsh and loud within the husk of the room. It was time to go, she had to get out of there. The whispering was getting louder, multiple voices were calling out to her. 

With a half sob, she stumbled and rushed out of the house. The steps tripped her as she went, making her land heavily on her hands and knees in the yard. Looking up, she came face to face with a charred corpse. All the voices exploded inside her in a loud cacophony that was seemingly unending. “No, no, stop…please…” 

She scrambled backwards, away from the charred corpse. Tears were streaming down her face. They wouldn’t stop, the voices wouldn’t stop. There was a tingle at the base of her spine, growing up and up. Opening her mouth she screamed. 

_There was inky blackness everywhere. It was almost as if she was floating in it. The voices had gone silent. It felt calm and peaceful and she closed her eyes and drifted. A faint crackling noise made her open them again. Far off, there was a tiny sparkle of light. Setting her feet down, she moved towards the light. The cackling noise got louder as she approached. Slowly, a shape formed out of the light._

_The shape was writhing in the darkness, flames licking around it in a tight ball. Some of the flames would leap out and vanish. Something caught her eye and looking up, she saw a glowing orange and red feather gently floating down. When it reached the shape, for a brief moment the shape twisted and wings seemed to erupt from it. Flames licked outwards, making her stumble backwards._

“Lydia!” 

Gasping, she was wrenched into consciousness. Bile rose up in her throat, shoving away at the person holding onto her, she managed to turn over before retching up the contents of her stomach. Warm hands pulled back her hair and ran a soothing hand down her back. Still feeling shaky and confused, she let the person help her to her feet. 

“Stiles?” 

“Yeah, Lydia, what happened?” 

Turning around, she held onto Stiles’ arms with shaking hands. He was staring at her with wide eyes. Derek was hovering a few feet away. “I don’t know. I don’t know. Oh god, Stiles, I don’t know.” 

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s ok. I’ve got you.” Gratefully, she sank into his embrace and clung to him. 

“If we’re done with the theatrics, we do need a bit more than ‘I don’t know’.” The annoyed voice of Peter Hale, made her pull back to glare at the alpha over Stiles’ shoulder. 

Stiles turned to give the man an irritated look as well. “Don’t be a jackass, she’s clearly in shock. Give her a moment, ok?” 

Peter stalked towards them. She felt an involuntary shiver go through her body and felt herself shrinking into Stiles. Peter stopped, looking exasperated. “No, I will not give her a minute. In case you didn’t notice, there is a burned corpse in the backyard of my burned house. Recently burned too. I need to know what she knows. Now.” 

Feeling Stiles about to continue arguing with the werewolf. Lydia made herself pull out of the embrace. “It’s fine, I can talk. I just…” Brushing her hair out of her face, she turned away from where the body was. “I was at school, then I was here, I don’t remember driving her or even starting the car. I was about to leave when I closed my eyes and then I was inside. It...there were voices, I dropped my phone, ran out and saw the body, screamed and passed out.” 

Watching the way Peter’s eyes narrowed in on her, she took another deliberate step away from Stiles. This man was impossible. “If someone could retrieve my phone, I would appreciate it.” 

“I think your phone would be the least of your concerns right now.” Peter said, his voice flat. 

Jutting out her chin, she made her voice as even as possible. “I need my phone to call the police. Unless one of you has already done that?” 

If anything, the alpha’s scowl deepened. “We aren’t going to be calling the police. This is now personal for me, I need to call Jennifer and get her here to check for magic and the wards on the house. The police will delay us to the point where the trail may dissipate.” 

Stiles huffed but looked away from Peter’s gaze, teeth clenched. Shoving past her friend, she glared at the alpha. “Oh and you always know best, do you oh mighty alpha? What about whomever that poor person’s family is? What about clues for the police? What --” 

Eyes flashing bright red, Peter was inches away from her face and had her wrist clenched painfully in his hand. A deep growl was emanating from his body. “You. Do not get to question me like this. Stiles, take her home. I’ll send Derek to meet you there.” 

“Peter --” 

A snarl ripped out of the alpha at Stiles’ voice. “Do I need to repeat myself?” 

Stiles made a wounded noise that tore at her. Wrenching her arm away, she stumbled backwards, blinking tears out of her eyes. Not trusting herself to speak without angering the werewolf any further, she spun around and stomped back to her car. 

“Stiles…” Peter’s voice sounded softer. Turning back, she saw the alpha start to reach towards her friend who flinched away. 

“What happened?” Stiles’ voice was so quiet she could barely hear him. “What did I do? Why --” Shaking his head, Stiles backed away and moved towards her and the car. Peter reached out again but Stiles evaded the alpha’s hand, continuing to move quickly towards her car. 

Neither of them spoke again until she was pulling up to the stop sign at the road that would lead either back into town or up north. Still feeling shaken, she paused for a moment and stared blankly at the empty road. Drumming her fingers on the wheel, she glanced over at her friend. He was staring out of the window, hunched into himself. Taking a deep breath, she turned to go north. 

“Uh, Lydia?” 

“We both need answers. Peter and Jennifer aren’t going to give them to us. Also, you said it, Derek and Allison have said, even Jackson has noticed, something is wrong with Peter in how he’s acting towards you. We’re headed north, text Allison and Jackson then turn off your phone.” 

For a moment, she thought he was going to object but then with shaking hands, he pulled out his phone and typed quickly before shutting it off and putting it away. After another twenty minutes of silence his need to talk got the better of him and soon they were in an in depth conversation on werewolves and packs. She also managed to pry the entire story of him and Peter, which had been on her list for the past week. 

As they pulled up to her Aunts’ house, she felt her whole body relax. Glancing over at Stiles, she saw that he had tears in his eyes again. “Stiles?” 

“What? Oh, yeah, shit, it’s just, the last time I was here was with mom and it just hit me, you know? I’m ok. And you’re right, we needed to come here.” 

Aunt Cleo was already coming out of the front door and swept Stiles up in a hug before he could say anything. Something settled in her, watching how Stiles clung to her aunt. They had both lost this and were now finding it again. As shitty as this whole thing was, at least she could get this back. 

She was moving forward to claim a hug of her own when Stiles jerked backwards, eyes bright gold and nostrils flared. “There’s a wolf here!” Wincing, she faltered on the steps. 

Cleo raised an elegant eyebrow at her then smiled at Stiles. “I see Lydia didn’t fill you in on all the details, yes, Hal is a wolf. There’s more to her story that we haven’t fully told Lydia but we’ll see if it’s relevant today or not. Come inside, Mischief, it’s safe here.” 

Stiles sucked in a deep breath and nodded before moving inside. Hal approached, her own eyes flaring bright blue. He paused only a moment before throwing himself into Hal’s arms and clinging tight, burying his face in her neck. 

“Shh, pup, I’ve got you.” Whining, Stiles seemed to somehow cling harder to the older woman, who was maneuvering the two of them towards the couch. “I can smell the pain all over you, Mischief, tell me what’s been going on.” 

The story took a while to fully come out. Lydia and Stiles kept interrupting each other and adding details as the other one was talking. Hal had a lot of questions for Stiles as well, most of it centered around Peter and then Peter’s relationship with Jennifer. By the end of it, the woman was up and pacing, a light growl rumbling from her. 

“That foolish pup, never get so caught up with a witch like that. And that curse is still in place!” Whirling back around to the two of them, she ran gentle fingers through Stiles’ hair as he melted into her. “You’re both staying here tonight. You can let your alpha know where you are, I know it must be hurting you to not tell him.” 

Blushing, Stiles mumbled something that made Hal chuckle before settling a hand on the back of his neck. “You have good instincts, Stiles, trust them. You are a wolf now, no longer human and those instincts must merge together within you or you won’t survive. Peter has a lot of pain in his past, not just from the fire. I believe it may be that pain that is driving him to push you away now.” 

“Or that witch.” Cleo muttered, standing up and bustling into the kitchen. 

Hal rolled her eyes. “Let’s not throw stones yet, Clee, this witch did help the pup when no one else did.” 

Cleo snorted and started to pull out pans from the cupboards. “Stiles, do you still enjoy baking?” 

Stiles' whole face lit up and he quickly darted into the kitchen. “Can we make oatmeal cookies?” 

“Of course! Sniff out the ingredients for me, while I get some dinner started.” 

Lydia felt a smile coming to her face, watching the two of them move around the kitchen. She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped when Stiles accidentally sniffed the pepper jar and had to wheeze his way to the sink. It was with reluctance that she picked up her friend’s phone. It galled her to have to make this call, she was enjoying having Stiles back in her life and didn’t really want to share him with anyone. 

Hal had gone into the kitchen as well to seemingly harass Stiles in his sniffing attempts so there was no one to direct her. Just the way she liked it. Clicking on Jackson’s name on Stiles’ phone, she waited, tapping her fingers on the end table, for her ex-boyfriend to pick up. 

“What the fuck, StilinskI! No, Derek --” 

“Stiles.” Derek Hale’s growling voice filled her ear. Rolling her eyes, she brought the phone away for a second before bringing it back. 

“I’d like to talk to Jackson please.” She said in her best polite voice. Dead silence greeted this. 

“Where. Is. Stiles.” Derek’s words were almost subvocal as the rumbling behind them grew stronger. 

“He’s fine, making cookies with my Aunt, if you really must know. Now that is out of the way, hand the phone back to Jackson.” She kept her voice bright and chirpy, not letting herself bleed out any of her irritation with the wof. 

Another growl, then a brief scuffle of some sort and hissing words she couldn’t make out before a resigned sounding Jackson spoke again. “Lydia, this is not a game.” 

“As the one who keeps dreaming of and finding all the dead bodies, I am well aware it is not a game. Now, Stiles and I are staying with my Aunts tonight. They are helping us sort out our magic since it’s such a low priority to Peter. And don’t worry, Stiles will be safe, probably safer here than back there anyways.” 

Jackson made an aggravated noise. “Lydia, you don’t want to play this game, just let me talk to Stiles, ok? Or let Derek, my god Derek, I do need to breathe!” 

“No, he is actually happy right now, something your supposed alpha has been failing at lately, I’m letting him have this and not going to let either of you guilt him into coming back.” Before Jackson could say anything more, she hung up and took a quick moment to text the sheriff where they were, Aunt Cleo’s phone number and a summary of what they were doing. She quickly turned the phone off as already there were furious texts coming in from both Jackson and Derek. 

They had just settled down to eat when Aunt Cleo’s house phone rang with a call from the sheriff. It apparently went well if the relief on Stiles’ face was any indication and she could tell he was more relaxed as he dived into eating the cookies from earlier. Once the cookies were finished he started to get tense again and looked over at her. 

“I should call Peter. No, Lydia, don’t glare at me please, he’s my alpha and my -- well, something…” 

Glad that she’d put his phone away, he tossed her hair over her shoulder and sniffed. “I don’t think you owe Peter anything right now. Besides, I talked to Derek and Jackson earlier so they know what’s going on. More importantly, your father knows what is going on.” 

“Yeah, well, my dad also doesn’t like Peter and --” 

“With good reason.” Lydia cut in, she needed Stiles to understand this. “Stiles, he’s not the only one you have anymore. You have me, you have Aunt Cleo and Aunt Hal,” she swept her arm towards both women to emphasize, “you don’t need him.” 

Eyes flashing bright gold, Stiles shoved his chair back from the table and stood up. “Yes. I do. He’s my alpha. Where’s my phone?” 

For a long moment she locked eyes with him. Seeing the steeled determination, she gave a dramatic sigh and stalked over to where she had hidden it. “We are not going back down there tonight, no matter what he says.” 

With a muttered, “fine”, Stiles took the phone and turned it on. “Woah, Lydia, what did you say to them? I have like one hundred notifications on here.” 

Feeling smug, she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “I said what I had to.” 

Throwing his arms in the air, he snarled. “Look, I thought we were on the same side in this! Pissing on and cutting out my pack members is not the way to go!” 

“But they aren’t really helping! They are just blindly following after Peter and you are getting hurt.” She was starting to tremble, hating the idea that she could lose Stiles again. “I just...Stiles...I just got you back, and I’m scared, and I need you and I don’t want you to get hurt. I still remember the dream of you dying and --” Choking off a sob, she went to hide her face but then Stiles was pulling her into a tight hug. 

“You aren’t gonna lose me, Lydia, ok? I promise. But we can’t cut out my pack.” 

Cursing herself for her weakness, but unable to let go, she shuddered and just let herself be held. Hal moving over to them, made her start to pull back, only for Stiles to stiffen and not let go. Hal’s quiet chuckle got both their attention. 

“You have strong pack instincts pup, I saw that even when you were a tiny thing, all limbs and energy. But I’m no threat to you or your packmate.” 

Blushing, Stiles backed off a few steps. “Right, uh, sorry.” 

Shaking her head, Hal tossed an arm over Lydia’s shoulders and squeezed. “It’s alright, pup. Your pack member was distressed and another non pack wolf was coming up to you. Those new instincts are a bit like puberty all over again, strange emotions that jump out at you, unexpected like. Better to be cautious.” 

Taking a deep breath to get herself back under control. She gave Stiles a shaky smile. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have cut you off from them.” 

Slumping, he ran fingers through his hair. “It’s ok, and maybe you are right, I should give it the night.” 

“No,” Hal cut in, her voice soft, “call your alpha, pup, he’ll be out of his mind with worry.” 

Lydia moved back into the kitchen as Stiles made the call. “What’s wrong?” Cleo asked. Her aunt had begun to wash the dishes from dinner and Lydia couldn’t help but smile at the memories that brought up. Shaking her head, she moved in to take up the drying cloth. 

“I just have this bad feeling, like something is crawling all over my skin. And -- well, it’s stupid.” 

Cleo paused in the washing to give her one perfectly raised eyebrow. “My dear, you have magical fae blood in you, do not dismiss what you feel as invalid.” 

Taking a deep breath to let all the churning feelings settle for a moment, she fought with herself on how to respond. “It’s hard to be open like this. No one had seen this side of me in years...I don’t know how to be a good friend, I failed him before and he should hate me.” 

Humming, Cleo sifted through a few more dishes before responding. “I won’t give you any lectures on shoulds or should nots right now, you know as well as I do that Stiles is the one that gets to decide any of that. Now --” 

The sound of the plate she had been holding shattering against the stone floor made both of them leap back from the sink. Before either of them could react, there was a cry of pain from the other room. It was like a blast of cold went through her, falling forward, she barely caught herself on the lip of the counter. Cleo had arms around her and was calling for Hal, while trying to maneuver her out of the room. 

“Stiles…” Wrenching herself out of her aunt’s arms, she stumbled her over to where Stiles was laying on the floor. His eyes were bright gold, the claws were out and he was clutching at himself, whining a high pitched noise. Not giving herself time to process, she grabbed at him, calling his name over and over. 

No response came, just more gasping, his eyes were glassy and unseeing. Starting to panic now, she looked up at Hal. “What’s wrong with him? What happened? Did Peter --” 

“No. It was that witch who answered the phone, said something to him about fixing a bad decision then hung up. He was trying to call someone else when this happened.” Stiles bucked up violently, letting out a pained howl. Eyes wide, she scrambled back from him as he started to shake and twist. 

“What’s happening?” Fear was clogging up her throat and she could feel the tears from earlier threaten to make a return. 

“Get back!” Hal cried out, her own eyes shining bright blue as the older woman herded her and Cleo back towards the kitchen. 

Lydia fought against the hold Hal had on her. “No, no, Stiles!” 

There was a ripping noise, the house shuddered and a wolf stood where Stiles had been laying. Lips pulled back in a snarl, the wolf barely spared them a glance before shaking itself and charging towards the door. Cleo shouted something and the door slammed open just as the wolf’s leap reached it. 

The wolf paused just outside the door, turned and gave her one last blazing look, lifted its head and let out a blood curdling howl, then tore out into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise we are getting close to resolving the Jennifer arc and the tension with Peter and Stiles! Next chapter is turning into a bit of a doozy but hopefully will make everyone feel better.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we get to the part you've all been waiting for! I hope it does not disappoint. 
> 
> Warning for mild NSFW scene at the end of the chapter.

His mate was in pain. His mate was in danger. His paws flew over the mountainous terrain as the wind whistled through the trees above him. Thousands of new smells were filtered through and dismissed as inconsequential. The only thing that mattered right now was finding his mate. 

Something skittered down the bond, sending a spike of pain through him. Yelping, he stumbled down the next ravine. Getting his legs back under him, he threw his head back and howled into the night. In another part of his mind he knew that he was too far away for his alpha to hear him. They had driven miles upon miles to get to this place. 

Despair coursed through him, he would never reach his mate in time. He was lost, in unfamiliar territory with no pack to run with him. He howled again, this time with pain and loss. The bond was fainter, still pulsing in confusion and pain, but fainter. His legs were shaking now, every step felt like a weight was settling down over him and there was a buzzing in his ears. Whining, he collapsed on the ground, hoping to make the shaking stop. 

The darkness of the forest seemed to be leaning in towards him and he couldn’t help the whimper that escaped as a tree branch cracked. His thoughts felt all jumbled and wrong. What was happening? Why was he here? Something was wrong...what had been wrong? He shook his head hard, the buzzing would not go away. Something had been important, he had been going somewhere. The buzzing increased and he snarled, snapping his jaws at some invisible enemy. 

Another branch cracked, making him leap to his paws to skitter around in circles and look for what was out there. When nothing answered his challenging growl, he paused, ears cocked and listened to the forest. There was only the wind, whispering through the tops of the trees. Somewhere he heard a hoot of an owl but everything else was silent. Except for the buzzing in his ears. 

A harsh caw sounded above him. With a yelp, he jumped sideways just as a dark bird’s talons scraped at his ear. Snarling a challenge, he leapt and his teeth clacked over air as the bird twisted away. No warning this time before the bird’s talons dug into his head. He flipped over, trying to smash it into the ground but it was already gone. The main made him whimper, how the hell did a bird do this much damage. 

He swiped a paw over his head, whining as it sent a spike of pain through him. The buzzing stopped. Peter. Mate. Alpha. Horror filled him and he swung around again, why did he delay? A low buzz started to return and some instinct unfurled inside him. With a roar, he slammed himself against the nearest tree. The new pain gave him even greater clarity. This was wrong, he didn’t despair like this. 

Feeling the buzz start to return, he smashed into another tree. No, he would not be distracted. He would get to Peter and stop the person doing this. Rage burned through him at the thought of Peter being further hurt because he couldn’t get his damn mind to focus. Taking a deep, panting breath, he forced himself back on his paws and flung himself forward. The path was clear again, the string leading him to his mate seemed to be shining out through the forest. 

Coming into a small clearing, he paused for a moment to look up at the moon. Two days from the next full moon. It would be the worm moon, the moon of new beginnings. Peter would live to see that moon and he would at his mate’s side. Howling once more, he continued his charge through rocks and trees. 

_you didn’t want him_

The thought buzzed through his mind so strong that he lost concentration and went tumbling down a steep incline. Back on his feet, he snarled in response and kept moving. 

_you left him_

This one hit him even stronger than the first, making him pause to shake his head to clear it. It didn’t matter if he had left Peter. He was coming to find his mate now. 

_you’re too late little wolf, you went far away, leaving him all to me_

What? Why would he...clarity shot through him and he froze. Not thoughts, this was someone speaking to him, this was magic. The rage started to simmer back up. _I’m going to rip you into pieces._ He thought back as he picked up his pace. 

Laughter echoed through his mind. _oh little wolf, you won’t even get close to me._

Putting all the hopeless fear, anger and rage he’d been feeling over the past week, he flung the next thought at her with all he had. _I’m coming to claim my mate, you don’t matter, GET OUT OF MY HEAD._

Something snapped and the world rushed back around him. New energy coursed through him, the sounds and scents of the forest filled his senses again. The forest itself seemed lighter and he could feel the moon shining down on his fur. The fear though, was stronger. Whoever this was obviously had power and he was only one werewolf. Only bitten barely a month ago, he had no idea how he was supposed to win against anyone. Let alone a magic user. 

He had to pause again, taking in deep breaths to clear his thoughts. He could not let a stupid melodramatic evil magic person get into his head like this. Not that they were in his head anymore literally but not the point. Looking back up at the moon, he wondered if there really were gods of werewolves. If there was, he really needed one to help him right now. Lifting up his head he breathed out this last howl with all the lung strength he could use. _Please hear me. Whoever you are, gods of wolves, please hear me. Help me save my mate._

For one long moment it was as if the entire forest held its breath. Then the moment was over, the wind returned, small creatures continued their chattering. On his own then, no matter. 

There was no way to know how long he had been running, it felt like hours since he’d howled his desperate prayer to the moon. His paws ached with every step, his body felt like it had been tossed into a rock tumbler and his breath was coming in ragged pants. The moon was starting to dip down in the sky and he was terrified that dawn would signal his failure. So on he went, leaving bloody paw prints in his wake, sides heaving. 

A tree root was what finally did him in. With a pained yelp, he toppled over and landed heavily on his side. Lying there, panting, no strength left he cursed himself for an idiot. How terrible was he at this that he had dashed out in the forest shifted into a stupid wolf and then gotten lost? He should have stayed, he could have been there by now if Lydia had driven him back. 

The string connecting him with Peter had fraying in his mind the longer he’d pushed himself forward. It felt like some fucked up soap opera shit. That the moment he lost his mate that he realized that he really did love the stupid man. Gut wrenching pain hit him again, howling, he tried to get to his feet only to tumble over again. 

Still trying to scramble up and forward, he howled again, hating how hoarse and weak it sounded. Somehow it had to make it through, it had to, he was a werewolf! Normal wolves could only be heard over ten miles but he was a freaking werewolf. Focusing on the shaking thread in front of him, he tried to throw all his last bits of will through it. Come on, come on, **work** , he thought while throwing his whole body into one last howl for his mate. 

It felt like the sound of his cry exploded out from him. The howl shook the trees, echoing through and off the rocks around him. The string vibrated and stiffened, sending wave after wave of sound through it. 

_**Get up pup.**_ The voice rang through his mind like a thousand howls were joining in with his song. _**Your voice had been heard. Now Run.**_

A new surge of strength swept through him. He was up and running as the echoes of his howl still rang around him. It felt like the trees were parting in front of him, no more tree roots or branches snagged against his hide. The string leading him to Peter shone strong in before him and he ran.

The connection between him and Peter went taunt, knowing he was close he threw on an extra burst of speed. There was something in front of him making the forest feel blurry and out of focus. More magic. Snarling, he slammed his entire body against it. The air shimmered and he roared and slammed again. Still the barrier held. About to try again, a voice stopped him. 

“Oh my god, you are the biggest idiot to ever idiot this side of the continental divide.” Lydia came stumbling out of the forest, his dad at her side. Lydia looked like she was going to start spitting fire at any moment. “Get out of my way and don’t think we won’t have a long talk later about you rushing off and away from safe transportation.” 

Taking a deep breath, Lydia reached out a hand and flattened it against the barrier and screamed. There was a pulsing ripple that turned into a wave going out from her hand until the barrier shattered before them. A snarling roar ripped out of him at the sight of Peter lying flat on a tree stump. Allison and Derek were on the ground, bound and unmoving. Jennifer was standing over Peter’s body with an arm outstretched towards him and Lydia. 

Ignoring his dad’s shout and Lydia’s cry, he charged at the witch. Red light shot out from her hand, hitting him straight on. Pain ripped through him, sending him crashing to the ground a few feet away from the tree stump. Snarling, he tried to get up, only for her to throw ash towards him. Making a wild leap to the side, he managed to avoid being trapped. 

By then the sheriff had made it to them, gun drawn and pointed at the witch. “I don’t know exactly what is going on here, but put your hands behind your head. Now.” 

Jennifer paused, chest heaving and eyes wild. “You don’t understand. I’m saving everything.” 

“All right then, help me understand.” His dad took a couple of slow steps forward. “Why don’t you climb down and tell me about it, Jennifer.” 

Shaking her head, she pointed at Stiles. “No, no, you see, he’s ruining everything. I’m trying to fix it. I can fix it all. Peter made a mistake in biting your son. He was still recovering and he needed an anchor. He doesn’t need that now and I can fix it. Don’t you want me to fix it? Make it so Stiles never has to be in danger because of Peter Hale again?” 

During this, Lydia had moved over and was checking on Derek and Allison. He could hear both of their heartbeats, still steady, so he kept his attention on Peter. His mate was lying on his back, the eyes were open but Peter didn’t seem aware of what was going on. Darting forward, he froze at Jennifer’s shout. 

“Don’t you dare! It’s almost done and I don’t want to hurt you, Stiles. I don’t want to hurt any of you.” 

“Jennifer, look at me.” The sheriff spoke again, edging closer to the stump. “What is almost done?” 

Still glaring at Stiles, her voice shook when she spoke. “I’m fixing it. I’m breaking their bond. This oh so precious mate bond that Peter put into place because for some god awful reason he believes that Stiles is his mate.” 

Oh shit. Stiles looked up at his dad who was staring at the alpha with confusion on his face. “His what?” 

“Sheriff…” Derek was up now, moving closer to the sheriff. 

Jennifer’s face twisted and she started to laugh. “Oh that’s right. They haven’t told you. Yes, your seventeen year old son is destined to be bonded, married, for the rest of his life to Peter Hale.” 

Something akin to outrage flashed across his dad’s face as the man lowered his gun. Allison was still sitting on the ground, looking worse for the wear and Derek, while standing, didn’t look very steady. This was really not good. It was the worst way for his dad to find out about any of this. Cursing his lack of ability to speak in this form, he crouched down, trying to slink closer to Peter. 

“Did you know about this?” Oh yeah, his dad was pissed. The sheriff was glaring at Derek and Allison. 

“Look, Sheriff, this is not the time. What Jennifer is saying is dangerous, breaking this bond could hav--” 

“So you did know about it. And nobody thought I should know about the man in his thirties preying on my underage son?!” 

Derek’s eyes flashed bright blue. “You wouldn’t have understood, look at you now, you are already judging us. We aren’t human, we have never been human. You don’t know anything about this, but what you can know, is that it means that Stiles is the most safe he ever will be when he is with Peter.” 

“Of course I’m judging. My god, look at my goddamn life. And it’s all your and your uncle’s fault. My son is an actual wolf right now. My house got burned down and now I find out that I’m supposed to just sit idly by while a grown man is with my son? Like hell.” Spinning around to look at Jennifer, the sheriff made a wild gesture towards Stiles. “You can fix this? Break this bond?” 

Jennifer nodded eagerly. “I can. I can even take the wolf spark back, it will be like it never happened.” 

Panic welled up inside him. Forgetting slow and calm, he launched himself straight at the witch. She spun around, fingers sparking and arm raised but she wasn’t fast enough. His jaw clamped down tight on her forearm as his paws slammed into her torso. She hit the stump hard and rolled as he used his body momentum to pull them onto the ground. He wanted to get her as far away from Peter as he could. She tried to lash back out at him but he clung to her arm and tore at it with all his strength. 

Rage burned through him, how dare she try and take this from him. How dare she come between a wolf and his mate. Distantly he could hear voices shouting but they all blended together. All he cared about was killing the one who had done this. He had to end this, end this poison for the pack. 

“Stiles!” A hand grabbed at his neck. Snarling, he tried to wrench away but the smell said pack so he didn’t bite. “Stiles, stop.” Whining, he backed up at the command. Looking up into Derek’s face, he flattened his years and growled. “I know, it’s instinct. But Peter needs you.” 

That made a frustrating amount of sense. Backing up, he looked around and growled as his dad tried to step up on the stump with them. Shock came over the sheriff’s face and the man tried to reach out to him. Sharling, he snapped out at the hand. 

“I wouldn’t do that.” Derek’s voice was mild but there was a hard vein of steel through it. “His pack has been threatened and his bond with Peter was almost broken. He’s barely holding onto control right now.” 

“He’s my so--” 

“Stiles…” Peter’s faint voice caused him to completely tune out the rest of what his dad was saying. With a pained whimper, he lunged across the small space between them and buried his nose in his alpha’s neck. “Stiles...I thought...I thought you’d rejected it, rejected me.” Whimpering, he tried to press as much of his body down on top of Peter as he could. 

Peter reached around him, pulling them tighter together and buried a shaking face in his fur. A scream and startled roar made both of them jerk up. Jennifer had thrown something at Derek and was up and stumbling towards Peter. With a dark growl, Peter got to his feet, shaking as he did so. Stiles kept himself up against the alpha’s leg, licking at Peter’s hand until it reached over and clung to his fur. 

“How dare you.” Peter’s voice cut through the rest of the noise and silence fell. 

“Peter...you don’t see...he’s a child…” 

“It is only because you helped me when no one else did that I haven’t torn out your throat yet. How long have you had your hooks in me? How long was your magic influencing me with my pack?” Peter moved toward the witch, eyes bright red and fangs dropping. Jennifer flinched backwards, looking around the clearing at everyone. 

“You’re right. I was there when no one else was. Not Derek or Stiles or Allison. Me. I supported you in your search for a pack because you needed it to be strong. For us to be strong. But that boy bonded with you and you started listening to him, changing for him. I was supposed to be your emissary. The nemeton’s power is mine.” 

The hand in his ruff gripped tighter as Peter growled. “You were in my pack as my emissary, you had my trust. My bond with Stiles has no part of it. Why do this?” 

Cradling her wounded arm to her chest now, Jennifer started to sob, struggling to get the words out. “It was me who was there for you, me, why couldn’t that be enough?” 

Silence reigned in the clearing while Jennifer crumbled to the ground, still sobbing. Stiles might have laughed at the awkward and slightly panicked look on Derek’s face but his anger was still burning too hot. He couldn’t bring it within himself to find pity for her right now. Not when the pain of almost losing Peter was still echoing through him. With a snarl, he started to surge forward, only for Peter’s grip on his ruff to drag him back. 

“Easy, darling, we don’t have all our answers yet.” 

“I have enough answers.” The sheriff’s voice made everyone startle and turn towards the man. “Hale, get away from my son. If this woman can fix all this with Stiles then I want her to do it.” 

“Sheriff --” 

“Sir --” 

“Absolutely not.” Peter said, cutting off both Allison and Derek’s attempts to speak. “No, you don’t understand the effects this could have on Stiles or me. What Jennifer was trying to do would have destroyed our mate bond, yes, but Stiles would have still been a wolf. Just one that would have been packless and anchorless. To go from what he has now to nothing would have destroyed him.” 

The sheriff scoffed. “So you say, so she says something else. Well, you’re the man who has been lying to me and preying on my son so I think I’ll pass on believing you.” 

Scenting Peter’s anger building, Stiles whined as he pressed his head tighter against the alpha’s leg. Before anyone could say more, Jennifer made her next move. A wall of mountain ash slammed into him and Peter, sending them flying apart. Thrown off the nemeton, he landed heavily on the ground. The impact knocking the air out of him. 

There was shouting and growling, but his ears were starting to ring and his whole body felt sluggish and heavy. Forcing his eyes open, he painfully got back on four legs. There was a black cloud around the witch, Derek had shifted into his wolf form and was attempting to dive under to get at Jennifer. Peter was on his knees, fighting against some invisible force holding him down. 

“Stiles!” That was Lydia, she was running towards him. He tried to move but pain lanced through his body, yelping, he crumpled but then the redhead was at his side. Small hands were brushing frantically over his body. “That stupid, crazy bitch, we’re going to end this, right? Come on, get up.” 

Whining, he locked his eyes on Peter and pushed up. It felt like the very air around him was constricting his movements. The pain was excruciating for a long moment but then Lydia gripped his fur in her hands and pulled. Air rushed back into his lungs and he was able to begin his dash across the clearing. 

Three leaps and he was at Peter’s side. Four leaps and he hit the swirling mass of mountain ash. Lydia’s voice rang in his ears then the ash started parting. Wriggling his hind end, he dug into the dirt with his paws. The opening grew wider. Ears flattened, his lips curled with a low snarl emitting out of him, he waited. 

“Now!” 

One more leap and he was at Jennifer’s throat, powerful jaw fastening onto her shoulder. The mountain ash collapsed, burning at his skin. Jennifer screamed as her hands grasped at him. He could barely feel the attempts to tug at him, her hands were so weak. Nothing else mattered right now other than destroying the one who had hurt him and his mate. 

Her attempts to remove him weakened to nothing. It took one last furious head shake before she went limp in his hold. It was like a switch flipped in the small glade. The scent of blood curled up into his nostrils as clarity began to return. Dropping the body, he shuffled back and whined. Everyone was staring at him. 

Flattening his ears, he shuffled back further and contemplated making a dash out of the clearing. “Stiles.” Spinning around so fast that he tripped over his feet, he only had a moment to recognize the scent of Peter before his mate fell onto him. Not liking the pain coming off the alpha, he started to lick Peter’s face. The alpha gave out a raw laugh. “None of that, dear one, as dirty as I am, I still prefer other ways of getting clean.” 

Things moved into a bit of blur after that. There was a lot of arguing and yelling. He kept himself glued to Peter’s side, only leaving for a moment to go over and lick Allison’s face, and growled at anyone who tried to talk to him. Understanding words had become difficult and didn’t seem important so he just whined and licked at Peter’s hand when he felt the alpha getting angry. It did seem to help as Peter would always sigh and tangle fingers back into his fur. 

At some point the anger became a muted exhaustion and everyone began to move back into the woods. Having no idea where they were going and not pleased at the idea of more woodland wandering, he gripped Peter’s shredded shirt and tugged at it. The alpha’s scent turned confused then concerned at his whine. Kneeling down next to him, Peter rubbed chaffed palms up and down his neck. 

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” Delighted at this touch, he shoved his bed into his mate’s chest and rumbled his approval. Sighing deeply, Peter’s forehead came to rest on his. “I know you’re tired and confused, but we need to get back to the den. Even without the magical protection, it is still safer there than anywhere else.” 

Not sure what the noises meant, he whined further. After another moment of nice, soothing contact, Peter stood back up and flashed red eyes. The command to follow was inherent in the posture and scent of the alpha. Making a low rumbling noise, he flattened his ears and stalked out of the clearing. 

Allison laughed as she came up beside himt. “Even as a wolf he doesn’t like to be told what to do.” 

Giving off a low growl of his own, Peter swung into pace next to him reaching out a hand to settle in his ruff. He felt a wave of anger come off his dad which made him want to curl up in a ball somewhere. The walk seemed like it took longer than the entire night had taken. By the time they reached the vehicles he was barely able to put one paw in front of the other. 

It wasn’t until warm water hit him that he realized that they were in the den and somehow he’d been moved to the giant walk in shower in Peter’s suite. Upon his violent objections to the water Peter sat on him growling until he caved by rolling over. He did make sure to nip at the alpha one more time to show that he was not to be bullied like this. It earned him a weary sigh and more flashing of red eyes that caused him to whine his apologies. 

For the rest of the cleaning up process, he really did try to not cause problems. But the blow dryer was terrifying and loud, the soap made his skin tingle and he was not a fan of the mouthwash Peter made him swallow. The towel was nice, it smelled like Peter, but he escaped it as soon as he could because the bed was better than the towel. Claiming the top of the bed, he pawed at the pillows until he had a good soft base and then attempted to drag the cover over himself, whining when it didn’t work. 

“I should probably be videoing this to tease you about later but I’m just so damn tired. I should also be complaining about you stealing all my pillows but I suppose that’s the least I can give you...well...I guess you’re staying here.” Peter pulled the cover up over him before leaning down and resting their foreheads against each other. Sensing the exhaustion of his mate, Stiles whined, hoping Peter would join him. Shaking his head, Peter backed up. “I can’t pup, your father almost shot me enough times today. I’m not tempting fate again. I’ll be here in the morning…” 

This was unacceptable. Abandoning his pillows, he scrambled up and off the bed, landing with a loud thump on the floor. Stupid floor. Peter crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “And just where do you think you’re going?” Gripping the very edge of Peter’s damp shirt, he tugged back towards the bed. The alpha sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Hale.” The sheriff’s voice startled both of them. Stiles leapt sideways, tripping over the floor and fell on his side. “I think you’ve been in here long enough.” 

Sagging against the wall, Peter gave the sheriff a hard look. “Why don’t you try explaining it to your son then, why the person he ran himself ragged for all through the night isn’t allowed to stay in the same room as him?” 

“My son,” the sheriff said through gritted teeth, “knows exactly why that isn’t acceptable. You’re on thin ice right now and comments like that only make it thinner. Stiles, come here. You can sleep in my room tonight.” 

Watching the dejected slump of Peter’s shoulders, he whimpered and crawled back up to his mate. Before the sheriff could say anything else, Allison slipped into the room. The girl looked exhausted but she still placed a hand on the sheriff’s arm. “Noah, please, we are all stressed and this has been a very long day. Why don’t we all just sleep in the main room? The couches are comfortable enough and then the whole pack can be together.” 

This seemed to be the magic words and soon the whole pack had made themselves comfortable in the main room. To make sure his dad knew he was pleased with this concession, he licked at the man’s face as soon as the sheriff had claimed a chair. The sheriff was still giving him incredulous looks and sadly, the licking did not fix this. 

Most of the day was spent asleep, curled up with Peter on the largest couch. Jackson appeared at some point, gave him a hug which was appreciated. The face licking as thanks was not appreciated which made him grumpy. Why did no one appreciate his thanks? His dad had disappeared by then and he was too sleep hazed to spend much time on that thought. The bond between him and Peter was getting stronger as the day went on. It left a giddy warmth in his chest that made him want to just rub himself all over in it. 

Night had fallen when he became awake enough to realize his body had other needs. Feeling a little silly, he wandered over to the back door and whined. The smirk on Jackson’s face told him all he needed to know about how the jock was going to respond to this. Derek was also smirking but did open the door so he could go outside and do his business. It was very strange but kind of freeing at the same time. 

Peter found him sometime later at what he thought was a mole hole. It smelled so interesting and he was in the process of snuffling around to determine if the mole had any other entrances to its home. A warm hand settled in his ruff and gave it a light squeeze. 

“I know that this is much more enjoyable, but there are things we should talk about.” Stiles stilled and then shook his head. He didn’t want to talk, he wanted to just stay like this a little longer. Peter settled into the grass to be eye level with him. “I know, it’s easier as a wolf. You know what’s going on but you can filter out all the bad things. But Stiles...I need you to talk to me, please?” 

Sitting down on his haunches, he tried to focus on being human. It didn’t work. Growling, he hopped up and tried again. No dice. Looking back over at the alpha who was giving him a raised eyebrow, he sighed and closed his eyes. He reached for that connection point inside himself, the string that he had been following the night before, and tugged on it. Peter made a surprised noise and then he felt the tug back. Letting the strength and warmth of that connection wash over him, he focused on what it meant to him. 

He opened his eyes and he was human again. A human who was naked. “Oh fuck! Peter!” 

Laughing, Peter gripped his forearms and helped him to stand. “It’s alright, sweetheart, I brought you some clothes. You should have enough strength back that you won’t feel cold at least.” 

Blushing, he quickly pulled on the sweatpants and shirt Peter held out to him. “So, uh, talk? I don’t really…” Now that he was human, all the events of the last twenty four hours were starting to sink in more. Avoiding Peter’s gaze, he shifted in the damp grass. “I don’t really know what to say.” 

A hand ghosted over his face, tilting up his chin until he met the alpha’s gaze. “What have you wanted to say for the past week but I didn’t let you?” 

With a shudder, he leaned into Peter’s hand. “Was that...you? Pushing me away, telling me I was wrong...did she do anything?” 

“I’m not entirely sure. I wish I could say it was all her but I don’t know for certain.” Bringing up his other hand, Peter drew their foreheads together. “I do believe she was starting to fray the bond before either of us felt it. These past few days are a bit hazy to me, I can remember what I did and what I said but it was like it was a dream. When she brought me to the nemeton she had convinced me that you were rejecting our bond. That you had chosen Lydia. Like a fool, I believed her. But then I heard you howl.” 

Eyes wide, he backed up a step. “You...you heard me howl? Peter I was so far away, well, I mean I howled a lot and I think I must have done magic because I prayed to the wolf gods and then I felt you and I ran. I just needed to find you because I love you--” 

Hot lips crashed into his mouth. Whining, he tangled his hands in his mate’s shirt, trying to pull him closer. Deepening the kiss, Peter wrapped strong arms around his torso. It felt like an electric current zapping through his body, the hot lips biting on his, the tongue licking its way into his mouth. Their bond pulsed and sang with pleasure. It made him feel more alive and grounded than he had felt since the fire. 

Helpless against the surging pleasure, he tangled up his hands in Peter’s hair and held on tight. The alpha rumbled his approval, pressing Stiles up against a large tree. The lips moved down his jaw to his neck. Gasping, he arched up at the touch of fang against his collarbone. Peter’s body was hot pressed up against his. The scent of arousal and deep want filled the clearing with a tangy sweet smell. 

Everything felt so good and so right that he got lost in the sensation of nails scraping down his sides, lips, teeth and tongue on his neck. The hot hand around his cock made him buck up with a strangled shout. His cock was pressed against his stomach as the alpha scrambled to rut his own naked cock against Stiles’. Peter panted into his neck then latched onto it with sharp teeth. He came with a low moan, spilling all over himself and Peter. 

Rumbling louder, the alpha’s hand sped up. Milking his softening cock against Peter’s own. Soon, he felt the hot burst as Peter came as well. They stayed there for a long while, pressed against each other, hot and sticky. 

“I don’t want to let go of you.” 

Stiles shivered and tried to pull Peter tighter into himself. “Then don’t. Please, I’ll deal with my dad but don’t leave me tonight or any night.” 

Fingers tangled up in his hair, dragging his head back until Peter pressed warm lips against his own. “Never.” 

Eyes lighting up gold, Stiles grinned into the kiss. “Race you back then, alpha.” Jumping away, he shifted to wolf form and dashed back towards the house. The sound of Peter’s laughter and thudding feet feeding that warmth inside him. They still had a lot to talk about and to figure out, but he could take this one night with his mate.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shout out and thanks to LizzieBowen18 for beta reading this chapter! 
> 
> And once again thank you all for the awesome comments! Know that I am working away on this as fast as I can. Hoping to have it completed by sometime in March (but please don't quote me on that, life can be stupid sometimes).

Allison didn’t care that Lydia had probably saved their lives again. She didn’t care that the redhead truly seemed to care about Stiles. None of that mattered. It was only Derek, a firm presence at her back that stopped her from attacking the other girl. It didn’t stop her from flashing her eyes and snarling when Lydia moved towards the car Peter was herding Stiles into. The redhead stiffened, glaring at her before moving to ride with the sheriff. 

The car ride was mostly silent. Peter was curled around Stiles in the backseat and Derek was in his full brood mode. It gave her time to start processing the insane night she had just had. The emotional whiplash of coming from the meeting with her father to the news that Stiles had disappeared. To find out that no, Lydia had kidnapped him then refused to let them hear for themselves that he was ok. It made her blood boil thinking about it again. She didn’t realize she was growling until Derek’s hand landed on her thigh. 

“Oh, sorry...I just…” 

The hand squeezed lightly before letting go. “It’s ok, I get it.” The beta glanced at the huddled forms in the back and grimaced. “You should update Jackson.” 

“Right, right.” The phone call with Jackson helped settle her a bit. The teen had stayed at the house, in case Stiles came back there, while she and Derek had been hunting for Peter. It had been a hellish night and her nerves refused to settle, even though it was over. All the problems that this falling out with Jennifer would cause for them were running through her head in a loop. 

When they arrived at the house she wished she had more energy left to be amused at the sight of Peter coaxing a two hundred pound wolf into the house and then the shower. Hearing the yelps and snarls from the room, she groaned and slumped into a chair. The sheriff was pacing the room, glaring at all of them before he finally gave into exhaustion to sit down. 

Derek had gone for a loop of the property to check on all the wards and Jackson was pacing the perimeter of the room, shooting Lydia dark looks. Lydia had made her way into the kitchen, ignoring everyone else to start pulling out food. Unable to shove away her feelings any longer, Allison got up with a huff and stalked into the kitchen. 

“What are you still doing here?” 

The redhead gave her a scornful look. “Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“You’re not part of our pack, Lydia.” She clenched her hands into fists to keep the claws from coming out. 

“I’m part of Stiles’ pack.” Lydia said, meeting Allison’s gaze without a hint of fear. “He and I are connected through our magic and since we were children. Neither you or your alpha can change that.” 

It was Jackon’s hand on her arm that stopped her from swinging at the other girl. “Hey, let’s all take a moment. This is not helping.” She allowed Jackson to pull her back and his steady presence to calm her. The jock turned a glare on Lydia. “If you care about Stiles then you’ll stop this bullshit about trying to claim him all to yourself. If you want to be part of his pack then get it through your head that means being part of the whole pack. After tonight it’s even more important that we all stick together.” 

For a moment Allison thought that Lydia might lash back out at them but then the redhead turned away. Leaning on the counter, the other girl stared at the granite top as if it was the most fascinating piece of artwork. Just as she was getting impatient for Lydia to say something or do something, the girl spoke up. 

“You keep saying that the word pack like I should know what it means, well guess what Allison, not all of us had this charmed life with supportive people. I am doing my best for Stiles, and you don’t always have to agree with that to make it true. If you don’t want me here fine, but you can’t stop me from being Stiles’ friend.” 

Whirling around, Lydia stormed out of the kitchen and towards the door. Jackson made a face but turned to follow the redhead. At Allison’s questioning look, the jock shrugged. “Her car’s not here, I’ll drive her home.” 

Acknowledging the truth of that, she stalked off to try and bleed off her anger elsewhere. Just in time to catch the derailing of the conversation between the sheriff and Peter. “For fucks sake.” She said, moving off to hopefully settle that situation. Her idea worked and soon they were all mostly settled on the couches together, Stiles snoozing between them. 

The tension in the house went down considerably when the sheriff got a call around 4pm about a house fire with casualties. It sounded like the fire had been set similarly to the Stilinski house so the sheriff was quick to leave. It made something hollow settle in her. 

Derek found her tearing a medium sized tree apart. “You should widen your stance, your shoulders will have more force behind them that way.” 

“I’m not exactly great company right now.” 

“Did I ever say I wanted to be around you for your sweet temper?” 

Choking out a laugh, she let her head rest on what was left of the tree. “He just throws those fits and then leaves as soon as something ‘more important’ comes up.” 

“Hey.” A hand touched her shoulder with only the slightest of pressure. “That’s not why you’re really upset. It isn’t Lydia either. You came back upset before we even knew about Stiles.” 

“Not important.” The pressure on her shoulder didn’t waver. Shoving her hair out of her face, she scowled at the tree remnants. “I mean, it’s not important now. Yes, I need to tell everyone what happened but not right now. When we are all together.” 

Derek hummed an acknowledgement. “Will you run the perimeter with me?” 

“You just checked it two hours ago.” 

“I know, I just -- fuck, I can’t stop this feeling like someting more horrible is going to happen. I just need to be sure.” 

No words could help in this moment so she ran a hand down his arm and gave him a small smile. “Alright, let’s go run the perimeter.” 

It felt good to run the edges of their den with her packmate. As they ran she felt the tension slowly start to leave her body. With her senses wide open she could feel and hear everything. The steady pounding of Derek’s heartbeat, the quiet murmurings of the forest creatures, the rustling of the wind and the constant feeling of ours, this is ours. 

By the time they returned Stiles was up and much more alert. Jackson had also returned, only giving them a blush and shrug when Derek raised his eyebrows at the teen. Allison grinned and hugged him. “I knew you liked us.” 

“Whatever Argent. Just wanted to make sure Stilinski hadn’t wandered off and got himself lost again.” 

Derek huffed then dragged the jock into a headlock to haul him over to the kitchen. Laughing at the teen’s struggles and Derek’s refusal to make any facial expression she followed to make sure they didn’t eat all the leftovers from earlier without her. After they had managed to scrounge up enough food to feed everyone, they piled onto the couch together to settle on something to watch. She was pretty sure she dozed off somewhere during the movie because the next thing she was aware of was Derek shaking her awake. 

“What?” 

The tips of the beta’s ears were pink. “Will you run with me again?” 

As much as she desperately wanted to say no and let sleep claim her again, the hopeful scent coming made the words dry up in her throat. “Sure, just let me get up. Um, where’s Stiles and Peter.” 

“They are in Peter’s room.” 

“I should probably go then, huh?” Jackson had stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets and starting to edge towards the door. The displeased rumble off Derek stopped him. 

“Stay. Peter has a room for you.” 

“Woah, really?” 

“Of course. It’s by mine. We share a bathroom though so don’t use all the hot water or I’ll smother you in your sleep.” 

It was obvious that Jackson had by now realized that Derek’s love language was threats as he remained unphased by this statement. Hopping off the couch, she made sure to rub their cheeks together before heading out the door to do another run of the property. It was nearing midnight by the time they got back so it was a fairly quick goodnight before they were both headed to shower then bed. 

The next morning she came out later than usual and was ambushed by Stiles as soon as she opened her door. Delighted that he was human formed again, she returned his hug tightly. Pulling back, she smacked him on the arm. 

“Don’t you ever do something like that to us again. You want to go somewhere you tell us first. No matter how pissed you are at Peter.” 

Stiles cringed, hanging his head and peeking out at her under his eyelashes. “I know, I’m so sorry, Allison. I really am. I...I’ve been a really shitty friend to you lately.” 

Blinking back tears, she pulled him into another hug. “I don’t want to lose you, as a friend or worse. Please talk to me.” 

“I will. I’m sorry. I will.” 

Feeling satisfied with his apology, she let him drag her by the hand back towards the main room. The rest of the pack was already sitting around the table with random food items in front of them. Making a face, she grabbed some bread to go make toast. “We really need to go grocery shopping. I’m dying for a real breakfast.” 

Peter smirked at her over his coffee cup. “What, leftover spaghetti, chicken parmesan and grilled steak not your chosen breakfast foods?” 

Rolling her eyes, she threw a piece of crust at him. “Like your hoity toity tastes are any better, alpha.” 

Ignoring her to drag an unprotesting Stiles into his lap, the alpha reached out to snag some of the leftover garlic bread. A warm feeling washed over her. It was obvious from the gooey eyes Stiles was making that the two of them had discussed things at least to a certain extent. Good. Hopefully this meant that things in the pack could start to heal quicker. 

After breakfast, Peter ushered them all back into what Stiles had dubbed the war room or when he had been cranky, ‘the forbidden place of fun things I can’t touch.’ Once they had all settled around the table, Peter leaned forward with a sigh. 

“I owe you all an apology for my actions. It would be easy for me to claim it was all Jennifer’s spell and hold on me but the truth is that I don’t know how much of it was that and how much was me getting caught up in my pride. I failed you all and I am sorry. My behavior over the past few weeks is not the way I want to run my pack.” 

After a little back and forth about some of the details with Jennifer and to fill Stiles in on everything that had happened on their side, they moved on to the discussion of what to do now. 

“How bad is it with the wards?” Stiles asked, chewing on a nail. 

“It is both not as bad as it could be but not good either.” Peter answered with a grimace, then had to hold up a hand to stop the flow of questions that started spewing. “The wards weren’t just Jennifer. As we have discussed, wolves can use magic just not in the same way as other magic users. Jennifer and I set up the wards together and then as a pack we strengthened them to be connected with all of us. However, her magic was a significant source of powering them and she was much more attuned to them then any of us are.” 

Frowning, Jackson asked, “What about the other security?” 

“Yes, we do have human, normal so to speak, security in place. What worries me is that I don’t know if I can fully trust Jennifer’s report on the bodies and what magic she sensed on them so --” 

“There could be another magic user!” Stiles said, interrupting wide eyed as he flailed his arms. 

Sighing, Peter sent the teen a fond look. “We did already suspect there was another magic user if you remember, what I meant was that I can’t trust anyone on where or what the magic might have been.” 

“Why would she have lied about that?” Derek’s face was furrowed and he was staring at the map intently. 

Peter ran a hand over his face, looking tired all of a sudden. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to take any chances. It seemed like she still wanted to be part of a pack with me but...I don’t know how much of that I can believe or if she had other ideas of how to keep me safe and didn’t care about all of us.” 

The conversation kept going on this topic for a bit while Allison found herself getting increasingly nervous. She knew that now was the time to bring up and admit what she had done when she had talked to her father but she didn’t really want to face all of their reactions like this. But as the conversation on wards and Jennifer wound down, she knew it had to be now. 

“Um, I have something I need to apologize for as well.” Derek tensed next to her and Stiles gave her a confused look. Peter’s face was unreadable. Anxiety ramping up, she continued. “I talked to my dad yesterday. Right after school. That’s what the sheriff and I were doing. I’m sorry I didn’t tell anyone but I was afraid you’d say no and I didn’t want to worry anyone either so I just did it. I needed answers and I --” 

Peter had moved over and gently brushed the hair off her face to cup her cheek. “It’s alright. I’m not upset. I’m glad you took the precautions you did. I do wish you had told us but I understand why you didn’t. I want you to know that you are an important member of this pack, please don’t view yourself as dispensable.” 

Shaking slightly, she leaned into the offered hug. It always amazed her at how much her new instincts craved being with her alpha and loved that acceptance from him. It settled something in her that had felt on edge ever since the moment she had tried to confront him about his behavior with Stiles. 

“But what did he say? What did you say? Did he say anything about Gerard like how he is the principal or the bodies?” 

Grinning, she pulled back in time to see Derek cuff the back of Stiles’ head and Jackson’s eye roll. Stiles flailed again. “Come on guys, these are important questions!” 

“The only thing he said about the bodies is that he doesn’t know if Gerard was and is responsible or not. I mostly went because I needed answers about the Argents and I asked for contact information for the current Matriarch.” 

Peter hummed as he leaned back against the table. “That would be an interesting tactic to take. Did Christopher indicate anything about if the Matriarch knew or approved of what Gerard is doing in Beacon Hills.” 

“He doesn’t know but...I think I should contact her. I’m eighteen now and he said if everything had gone correctly, according to custom I’d be with her for training right now.” Derek shifted next to her, shooting him a glance, she frowned at his demeanor. “Derek?” 

“I don’t like it. We don’t know what they have told her and if she knows you have been bitten then she might just send more hunter’s after you.” 

“But what if she’s like my dad and is against what Gerard is doing? Gerard technically is supposed to answer to her and the hunter’s council and --” 

Derek growled, shoulders hunching in. “We can’t know that. We can’t ever trust hunters to do the right thing. It will get you and us killed.” Before she could respond to that, the beta had turned and fled the room. Resisting the urge to swear, she turned towards Peter who sighed. 

“He’s not wrong, Allison. No, let me finish. He’s not wrong but neither are you. We are in an incredibly vulnerable place right now and it is a very big risk but it is one that we might have to take. Let’s not make a decision right now, we are all too tired and emotional to think about it calmly. We need to rest and spend more time as a pack.” 

As much as she wanted to argue, she did see his point so nodding, she fell silent. When she left the room, Stiles fell into step next to her. “Let’s go for a run.” 

Running with Stiles at her side felt good. The pack thread between them hummed as they fell into sync. Derek joined them in his wolf form about halfway through, licking at her hand in apology. Kneeling down, she let him lick up her neck and she took in his scent. “I’m sorry, too.” She said, murmuring the words. “I know this has to be bringing back very painful memories. I promise I’ll be careful and I won’t do anything more without telling you first.” 

The sheriff returned mid afternoon and went straight to his room. At dinner he updated all of them on the fire. It had been a house fire and mountain ash had been found surrounding the house. Three people had died. 

“But no one but you knows it’s mountain ash, right?” Stiles asked, frowning at his plate. 

“Well me and the three in the know.” The sheriff replied, rubbing a hand over his face. “This is getting bad. These arsons. Especially with them being so close together. The mayor called this morning to ask when I was going to request help from the state police or CBU.” 

“But --” 

“I know, Stiles, I know. But I might not have a choice in the matter. If we find another body, the mayor will insist. And if I didn’t know about the supernatural I would have already called them. This is way more than a county sheriff’s station should be dealing with.”

“It might not be a bad thing.” Peter said, lobbing that into the open as if it wasn’t an unpinned grenade. 

Stiles made a sputtering noise and threw an arm out. “Dude!” Peter rolled his eyes and looked pointedly at Sitles’ water glass which had rocked dangerously at the teen’s flailing. 

The sheriff was gazing at Peter with narrowed eyes. “What makes you say that?” 

“If there are more law enforcement in town then it will put pressure on Gerard and it will be harder for him to get away with the copious amount of hunters with assault rifles he’s brought into town. Think about it, one concerned citizen, taking some pictures of them out in the woods…” 

Allison giggled at a sudden thought. When everyone turned to look at her, she tried to wave them off. “Sorry, sorry, I just pictured the entire student body stalking all the hunters in town, taking pictures of them.” 

Stiles’ eyes lit up. “Hey. That could actually happen! I bet Lydia could figure out how to get them to do it. She’s got everyone -- what?” 

At the mention of Lydia, her moment of levity had finished and she felt a growl growing up inside her. Derek was the one who leaned forward, capturing Stiles’ eyes with glowing blue ones. “You need to stay away from Lydia unless she formally submits to Peter as the alpha.” 

Gaping at them, the teen made a stunned noise before turning to Peter. The alpha’s face was a hard mask. “He’s right. What she did in taking you away from the pack is unacceptable. She is too close to this situation to not be pack at this point but she is still resisting. You need to keep distance.” 

“I think you’re all being a little dramatic. She’s a teenage girl and Stiles’ friend for god’s sake, they went off for the day together, there’s nothing wrong with that.” The sheriff said, scowling at Peter and moving up to stand next to Stiles. Allison closed her eyes and swore under her breath. Peter had gone as stiff as a board and she knew all the wolves could sense the danger coming. 

“As we have discussed, Noah, Stiles is part of my pack and --” 

“No. I have had enough of this. You do not get to tell my underage son what to do over my will. I am his father. And after the revelations of yesterday I’ve decided it isn’t even safe for him to be around you at all. Stiles, get your things, I spent part of the afternoon getting a safe house set up for us. Werewolf security is obviously not working so --” 

She felt the thrill of panic down the bond. It was strong enough that Jackson turned pale from the swarm of emotions that came off the wolves. Before any of them could say anything, Stiles pushed backwards from the table, his eyes flaring bright blue. 

“Oh sure, now you’re my father.” 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” 

“How many nights dad, did you leave me alone in the house after mom died? How many dinners did you miss? How many sports games did you promise to come to and then not show up? Who does the laundry, the chores, makes dinner, does the shopping? How, in all of this have you been the adult looking after me?” 

“Stiles this is not the time for some melodramatic teenage angst. Your life is on the line --” 

“You don’t think I fucking know that? I have almost died three times in the past two months, dad. I think I’m pretty clear on the state of my well being. You say you’re worried about Peter, but how do you intend to stop me from being with him? I turn 18 in a little over a month dad. So now it’s your choice. Are you going to keep fighting this part of life or are you going to accept me and my choice of partner and we can start to move on?” 

Noah had turned white, his face a blank mask of rage. “You will either come with me or --” 

“Or what?” Stiles was spitting the words out, eyes still glowing and body trembling. “What will you do? Arrest Peter? Turn him over to the Argents? I will never forgive you if you do any of those things. You accept this. Stop fighting this. Or lose me.” 

For a long moment, father and son locked eyes with one another. It was Noah who turned away, slumping against a chair in the room and hiding his face in his hands. “Have I failed you this much? That you think a man like Hale…” 

“You made your choices dad. You made your choice on where to place priorities and I don’t blame you for them. But you can’t come back now and act like you get to make these decisions for me when you haven’t been making them for years. I just want you to see me as who I am, not some kid to be coddled and protected. Please dad, I don’t want to lose you.” 

Allison felt like some horrible outsider witnessing a scene in a movie. Except the movie was real and the actors her best friend and his father. A man she had come to respect and enjoy having in her life. Peter too, was silent, watching the unfolding drama with an unreadable gaze. It was only his scent that gave out how nervous the alpha was feeling. 

After a long pause, Noah looked up with tears in his eyes. “Ok, you’re right. I know you’re right...I don’t want to lose you either. This is going to be hard for me, kid, really hard but I’m going to try.” 

Letting out a half sob, Stiles fell forward and wrapped his dad up in a hug. Derek’s scent switched to embarrassed while Jackson started to edge towards the door. Shaking her head at the two of them, she went to tug Derek out after Jackson. Peter was about to follow them when Noah’s hand shot out. 

“Stay please, I think the three of us have things to talk through in a more rational way.” 

To her complete fascination, Peter winced and stopped moving. Fighting back the mad urge to laugh, she hustled the two boys out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Derek stared at the closed door and shook his whole body as if to re-orient himself. The two of them dragged Jackson outside to work on their self defense lessons. It was another hour until Stiles bounced outside to join them. She wasn’t the only one who breathed a sigh of relief at his demeanor. Hopefully this meant that the drama in that area would start to die down. 

With all the insanity of the previous day, the full moon that night felt almost like a side note. Peter used it to keep them together as a pack and work on sensing each other as they prowled around the property in shifted form. The true joy of the night came when she was able to shift fully in her wolf form halfway through the night. 

Stiles gleefully pounced on her which turned their well planned run into an all out brawl. It was the only time she’d ever seen Derek let loose and let himself play with them. Even Peter got in on the fun, tackling and rolling Stiles over into the ground. By the time the sun was rising on Sunday morning, the mood of the pack had significantly risen as the four of them padded back into the house full of dirt and leaves. 

Noah went back into the station on Sunday, saying he would most likely end up spending the night and only gave Peter a resigned look. For a cop, he could really be oblivious. Even Jackson was aware that Peter had snuck into Stiles’ room even when Noah was at the house. 

Going back to school felt like a daunting task in and of itself and Monday morning came far too quickly. After some debate on Sunday evening it had been decided to wait until mid-week to see what the mayor decided to do about calling in outside help. If the CBU showed up it was possible the Matriarch would call Gerard to leave regardless. It might not be worth the risk of the possible arrest for the council. 

Stiles, her and Jackson all drove into school together in Jackson’s porsche. The plan was for Derek or Peter to pick them up at the end of the day. Stiles was chattering on about the history of the vanilla plant which he had somehow tied to what determined if a body of water was called a sea or a lake when Gerard met them on the front steps. 

“Ah, three of my most troublesome pupils.” 

“Excuse me?” Jackson furrowed his brow, pushing up in front of them. 

“I must say, for so early in the semester the three of yours skip records are certainly getting filled out quickly. I think a meeting is in order.” The old man gestured them towards the administrative offices. None of them so much as moved a muscle. 

“Are we under disciplinary action?” Stiles asked. 

“That is the purpose of this conversation, to see if such measures are necessary.” Gerard smiled at them, every inch a grandfather. The small sea of students that had stopped to listen in didn’t seem to buy the act for one second. 

“Have our parents been informed?” Jackson was shoulder to shoulder with Stiles and his tone was complete boredom. She had no idea how he could keep himself so calm. Her skin felt like it was about to explode with tension. 

“I don’t believe that it is needed at this point. Besides, as Miss Argent has pointed out, at the age of 18 her parents do not need to be informed of anything.” 

Jackson looked like he was about to argue but Stiles slid back into the conversation. “Alright then, let’s all go to your office, Principal Argent.” 

The students swiftly parted for the four of them though Allison could hear the wild chatter going on. Glancing back she saw at least four of them who were following at close pace. Upon entering the small waiting room, she drew back and sighed. Of course Lydia was already sitting in one of the chairs, plucking at her nails like nothing was out of the ordinary. It took a great deal of will power not to snap something at the other girl. All her irritation came back in full force from the last time they had seen each other. 

It was Gerard’s voice that interrupted her before she could say anything more. “This way please.” 

Once they had all filed into and sat down in one of the office meeting rooms, the old man dropped the grandfather like presence. A cold look filtered over his face as he moved to the head of the table, fingers tapping against the backs of the chairs. 

“Now, I don’t believe there is any need for subtlety or subterfuge at this point. We all know who each other are in relation to the vast supernatural underground. I’m here for some answers in regards to the death of my daughter. Answers, that I believe all or at least most of you are able to answer.” 

“Your daughter was a rapist, arsonist, serial killer, who died because she refused to surrender to the police when she had a gun pointed at my head.” 

Stiles was leaning back in his chair, eyes narrowed under his long lashes. The tone of voice he was using sent chills down her spine. It was so nonchalant, uncaring and unaffected. It’s effect on Gerard was obvious. The man’s hand clenched against the chair, face hard and eyes cold. 

“I can see this is going to be a difficult conversation. You would do well to have some respect for your elders, Mr. Stilinski.” 

“I’ll get right on that as soon as you have some respect for human life.” 

“That’s quite the accusation. Have any evidence to back it up?” 

The door banged open before Stiles could speak again. The sheriff walked in, raising his eyebrows at the students. Gerard’s hand clenched even hard as he moved to intercept the sheriff and the two deputies behind the man. 

“What is the meaning of this?” 

“Gerard Argent you are under arrest for the murder of Robert Johnson, Alicia Johnson and Ellie Johnson.”


	13. Chapter 13

Lydia couldn’t stop shaking. It had started as soon as her front door shut and it hadn’t stopped since. There was an itch of a scream in her throat and she wanted nothing more to let it all out. If only she wasn’t so afraid of what she might see when she screamed. 

It was after midnight, which meant the day had switched over to Saturday, her birthday. Her birthdays were always lavish events, the one time of year when her parents had actually paid attention to her for the full day. She had always looked forward to them in the past but now she had a deep dread in her stomach about the day. 

Part of her wanted to march back to Peter Hale’s house, go in there and scream at them. She had saved them all from the fire, she had saved them again just the day previous from Jennifer. Why wasn’t it enough? Would she ever be enough? She’d just been trying to help him, when Peter was treating him like shit. And somehow she was the bad guy? 

Allison was right, this whole pack thing made no sense to her. Stiles had explained it like bonds, threads, but how was she supposed to feel that as a human? The shaking was getting worse again, with a whimper, she crumbled to the floor and sobbed into her hands. Thursday night had felt so right and perfect for just a moment. She’d had her aunts back, had Stiles with her and they had been going to figure everything out, but now it was all ruined. 

At some point she was able to fall into sleep but the faces of everyone whose death she had screamed for, haunted her dreams. The day itself passed in a blur of people, well wishes and all the perfect birthday things. The hope that Stiles would break away from his pack and come see her slowly dwindled as evening turned into night. It was the first time he hadn’t made even a brief appearance on her birthday and it hurt more than she wanted it to. 

Her party was on fire, the rest of her classmates completely unaware of her inner turmoil. Almost everyone from the class was there, about half the seniors and a few favored sophomores. The hot gossip topic of the evening was, of course, Gerard Argent. She didn’t have to do much at this point. Everyone had heard about the fire that had happened on Friday afternoon and it seemed that Gerard’s guilt was so firmly affixed in everyone’s minds that she didn’t have to do anything to move it forward. 

It was easy to let herself get lost in the persona of Lydia Martin, popular girl, fashion queen and perfectly put together than it was to continue to dwell on her failed foray into becoming a better person. Besides, she didn’t have to be on point all the time, did she? She could take one night to forget the dreams, forget Allison’s furious eyes, Peter’s judging posture or Jackson’s further betrayal. 

The party wound down just after midnight and slowly the guests filtered out. Her inner circle stayed to clean up and gossip about the party itself. Lydia moseyed from room to room, supervising and adding the right encouragement to each girl. She’d been neglecting her flock lately, it was good to spend some time with them to reassure them of their friendship. It was also an optimum time to sit down and give the barest of hints of why she had been seen with Stiles more. 

Stepping outside as the last one left, she peered up at the moon. It was full tonight. The Worm Moon, Stiles had called it. He had said it was the spring moon and signified new beginnings. It left a bitter taste in her mouth. New beginnings, what bullshit. 

Turning, she made to go back inside and froze, air leaving her lungs. Not again. Please not again. Whirling around, she clamped her hands over her mouth to stop the scream. 

Nothing was recognizable even though she had to have walked here. Looking down at her feet, she flinched. Her shoes were gone and her bare feet were bloodied and chaffed. The wind whistled by her, making her shiver, then gasp. 

There were voices in the wind. 

The voices were begging, pleading, for him to stop. _Please,_ they begged, over and over again. It sounded so close. Someone laughed, loud and cruel. No, wait, that wasn’t in the wind, she could hear that. 

Panicked, she spun around and stumbled through the trees. She needed to get away, find a phone and call someone. The branches seemed to be pulling against her body, a sob broke out as she tripped over a tree branch. A hand saved her from falling, she did scream now, but another hand clamped over her mouth and she was dragged back through the forest. 

It wasn’t far until the figure holding her entered a small clearing. She thought her heart might stop in her chest. In the very center of it all stood Gerard Argent, holding a sword that was on fire. In a semi circle around him were seven stakes in the ground. Tied to each stake was a person, gagged and struggling. Bile rose in her throat, she recognized them. 

Seeing her dragged in, Gerard grinned. “Ah, our little banshee. I wondered how long it would take for your powers to grow strong enough to defy the geas on this little spell we’re putting together. Alan, I do believe you owe me a drink.” 

“She is remarkable. I knew Loraine’s granddaughter would be strong, but I had no idea that she would reach this level so soon.” 

Alan Deaton was in front of her now, head cocked as she took her in. She knew tears were streaming down her face and the scream that she couldn’t let out was beginning to choke her. Deaton smiled, reached over and drew a finger down her cheek. 

“Don’t worry, Lydia, you aren’t screaming your own death tonight. You’re too valuable to be wasted like this. Scott, bring her over to the side and tie her hands. I’ve put a dampening spell on this clearing so no one will be able to hear her no matter how hard she tries.” 

As soon as Scott let go of her, she tried to run, only to be wrenched back and have thin ropes wrap around her wrists. Scott shoved her down on the ground before turning back to observe the circle.

“Scott! Please, what are you doing? Scott!” 

“Oh don’t waste your breath, Miss Martin. My old friend, Alan here, has his mind clouded at the moment. He won’t remember anything about tonight. Just being a good dog like he should be.” 

Gerard loomed over her now, a cold smile on his lips. Feeling too exposed, she tried to curl to herself but the old man’s eyes still felt like they saw everything. 

“Gerard, we should continue.” 

“Yes, yes, alright Miss Martin, we’ll just have to talk after.” 

It was with a growing sense of horror that she wanted him to walk back to where the flaming sword was in the ground. Picking it up, the man hefted it up at the same time Deaton began chanting in latin. Scrambling, she almost got her legs underneath her before Scott forced her down again. Landing on her side, sharp pain burst up her arm. 

This was worse than her dreams. She had thought that nothing could be worse than watching people die over and over again, but this, when she could smell the flames and hear every panicked whimper was beyond anything she had dreamed about. 

There were tears streaking down her face and sobs were wracking her body. She thought she might be begging Scott to pay attention, to do something, anything but it was like her mind had detached from the moment. 

One by one, Gerard thrust the flaming sword into each person’s chest. Flames would lick out and consume them at the first touch of the blade. 

The death was not quick... or easy. 

Their screams filled the night sky. At the last one all the flames seemed to coalesce together and rush into the air. 

Something began to form in the flames. Darkness centered in the middle, the flames a rolling ball around it. It was growing into a shape, she couldn’t tell what it was, there was too much pulsing movement. Then everything stilled for one long moment before the flames burst out with a roar. Squeezing her eyes shut tight, the scream erupted out of her. 

Darkness enveloped the entire clearing. All the noise ceased. Shaking, she opened her eyes in time to see the shapes of who had to be Gerard or Deaton begin to pull themselves to their feet. Scott was lying unconscious next to her. 

“It didn’t work! Why didn’t it work?” Gerard’s furious voice cut through the eerie calm of the clearing. 

“Calm yourself, we knew this was a possibility.” 

“Calm? How am I supposed to stay calm? I don’t have time for this Alan. Fix it!” 

“It’s too late to fix it tonight. Everything for a ritual like this needs to be set up in a very precise manner. The earlier deaths must not have fed the sword enough power, but we can start again.” 

Their voices continued but farther away now, she had to strain to try and hear them. But her head began to feel woozy, it was all too much. A hand grabbed her chin and forced her head back. 

“Could she do it?” 

Deaton sighed above them. “It is possible.” 

“When? When can we try?” 

“At the new moon. But you’ll need powerful sacrifices. You’ll need more than just her.” 

“I’ll get whatever I need to. You just have to keep your end of the deal.” 

Now Deaton’s face filled her vision. “I am a man of my word. Now, Lydia, I think it’s time that you go back to sleep. You’ll wake up feeling rested, like none of this had happened.” 

Lydia sat bolt upright on her bed, heart hammering. No scream came. Checking the time she was shocked to see that it was past ten in the morning. She hadn’t been able to sleep this late in months. Checking around the room, nothing looked out of the ordinary. There was something wrong though, it was like an itch in her mind but she couldn’t remember anything. 

Last night after the girls had left, she’d gone to bed as normal. No dreams, nothing bad or scary had happened. Rubbing at her shoulder, she winced, it hurt. Getting out of bed hurt too, her feet were clean but with scratches on them and her wrists had thin red welts. 

What had happened to her? The rest of the room and house provided no answers and her mind remained blank. It was with a great deal of will that she continued on with the rest of her day. Her mom was actually around and wanted them to go have a girls day in Redding. It felt a bit like the day went through in a haze. The nagging feeling that she was forgetting something important weighed on her mind all day. 

Monday morning brought with no new or old dreams. Deciding to be grateful for the reprieve and that this was an excellent sign that she needed to put all this werewolf nonsense behind her. If Peter Hale and his motley group didn’t want her, well, she certainly didn’t want them. Like she would ever stoop to beg for a spot in a group. It proved that she should have never stepped out beyond her scope. The only thing she didn’t regret was saving Stiles. She could never regret that. 

Her new resolve was put to the test upon entering the school. Looking into the principal’s face as he spoke to her, her vision shifted and overlaid with his normal appearance was the shadow of a cruel twisted mouth and flames. Thankful for the years of practice in keeping her emotions under control, she was able to keep her composure and follow the man to the business offices of the school. 

It wasn’t long until the principal came back with Stiles, Allison and Jackson in tow. Determined to show them that nothing they had done meant anything to her, she picked at her nails while they blustered around the principal. It took a great willpower not to roll her eyes at them. She’d had plenty of time to text the correct people to spread the news. Gerard wouldn’t be able to get away with anything inside the school like this. 

The image of Gerard surrounded in flames came back as the man brought them all into the meeting room. For a moment her ears rang with screams, and she smelled cooking meat. Shuddering, she gripped the arms of her chair and willed it all to go away. 

“Gerard Argent, you are under arrest.” The sheriff speaking shocked her out of whatever haze she had lost herself in. Eyes snapping open as Gerard began to bluster. 

“What proof do you have? What nonsense is this? I demand to speak to my lawyer.” 

“You are of course entitled to a lawyer and you may call one or one will be provided to you after we have run through the proper procedures. Please turn to face the wall and put your hands behind your back.” 

“This is insane. I have done nothing wrong.” 

“We’ll leave that up to the judge, now, won’t we.” 

Still blustering but unable to do anything, Gerard was handcuffed and then led outside. All four of the teens gaped for a moment before leaping to their feet and dashing out after the law enforcement group. The mass of students, if anything, had only grown since Gerard had brought them back and she watched with a great deal of pleasure at all of the cameras recording this. The man’s blustering would only serve to convince people of his guilt. Even if the charges did not stick, the whole town would soon be convinced of the man’s guilt. 

Victoria Argent came rushing out of the office just as the group had reached the entrance. The look on her face made Lydia shiver. It wasn’t the look of a woman who had been defeated or had a setback. It was all cold calculation. 

“Alright, you’ve all enjoyed the show long enough. It’s time to get to class now.” Victoria’s voice rang out strong and clear over the students. They did disperse to their classes, but the chattering rose to a new level of noise in their wake. 

Still trying to shake off the after effects of whatever had happened to her when she had looked at Gerard, she made her way to her locker. 

“Lydia.” 

Freezing, she clenched her hand on the locker door. “Stiles.” 

“I’m sorry about missing your birthday.” 

Spinning around, she gave him a bright smile. “I don’t recall inviting you to my birthday, Stiles. So no apology needed.” 

A hurt look flashed over his face, mixed with confusion. “Right, uh, I guess I just thought…” 

“Well, you thought wrong. Just because we have a past together and have been speaking of that lately doesn’t mean you get to magically move up the school’s food chain. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have class to attend to.” 

“Lydia...did something happen? I know Allison and Derek are being weird abo--” 

“I have class now, Stiles. Goodbye.” Shoving past him, she hurried to the correct room. This was the best option, to cut him off. She had no plan of getting hurt again when he realized that he didn’t need her or her aunts. She was chasing a dream that wasn’t ever going to happen. They would never accept her, she wasn’t good enough or right enough for them. 

Coming out to her car after classes ended, she hesitated at her car door. “Shit, fuck,” she whispered, hand shaking. Driving to school had not been this nerve racking but the idea that she could climb into the car and end up somewhere not knowing why or how she had gotten there terrified her. 

“Lydia! Hi.” 

Letting out a small shriek, she whirled around, hand on her taser. “Scott. What the hell? You scared me.” 

Looking at her with wide, brown eyes, Scott shrugged. “I’m sorry. Uh, are you ok? You smelled like you were panicking.” 

Glaring at him, she backed up until her back hit the car. “You smelled my emotions? Don’t be a creep, Scott.” 

“Hey, I’m just trying to help. Deaton said you might need help now. He said that Peter had refused to help you, right? And you’re supernatural as well, like I am. So we should stick together.” 

There was something wrong in those words. Something that...her mind buzzed and she had to shake it to clear her vision. An image of Scott with lifeless, blank eyes, floating over the teen in front of her and she flinched. 

“I...uh, I don’t know...but no, I can’t go with you or do anything with you. I need to go home.” 

“I don’t think you should drive, you’re all white and shaking. Lydia, do you need to see the nurse? Let me drive you somewhere.” 

In the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn’t go anywhere with Scott. But her mind was buzzing in a strange way and her hand was reaching out to hand Scott the keys. 

“Mr. McCall, just what do you think you are doing?” 

“Mrs. Argent, uh, I’m just helping Lydia…” 

“I will look after Miss Martin. Don’t you have work to get to?” 

Scott moved away and Victoria Argent stepped closer to place a hand on her arm. “Let’s get you somewhere you can sit down and drink some water.” 

She didn’t want to go with Mrs. Argent anymore than she had wanted to let Scott take her somewhere but she still found herself maneuvered back into the school. Sitting down on the chair Victoria pulled out, it was nice to drink the offered water and to let her thoughts catch up. 

When she felt like her equilibrium had balanced again, she gave Victoria her best smile and moved to stand up. The woman’s hand snapped out to grip her forearm. 

“I think we should talk, Lydia.” 

Stiffening, she gave the woman a furious look. “I have nothing to say to you and I can’t imagine I’d be interested in anything you would have to say to me.” 

“Not even if I offered some of my family’s texts on banshees?” 

Eyes wide, she blinked at Victoria in shock. “How...how did you know?” 

A gleam entered Victoria’s eye and Lydia cursed herself for speaking so quickly. Something was wrong with her today. She was not on top of things. Normally, she would have never revealed her hand like this. 

“Banshee blood runs in my family as well, Lydia. I have barely more than a drop of its power but I can recognize one. Let me guess, Peter Hale and that witch of his awakened you for their pack?” 

Trying to regain her control, Lydia took a deep breath and stepped back. “It was an accident. He didn’t know about it until recently.” 

“So he tells you.” The woman sat down behind her desk, rolling her eyes. “A wolf like Peter would know about the banshee family line in his territory. I’m not surprised he is trying to play it off like that to you, I am surprised you believed him. I thought you were smarter than that.” 

Lydia could feel herself begin to settle at the woman’s words. This was familiar ground. She knew how to fight like this. Huffing, she slid back into the chair, flicking her hair back over her shoulder. “I don’t believe we know each other well enough for comments like that, Mrs. Argent. However, I do find myself with little trust for Peter Hale and would not be at all surprised if he has been lying to me.” 

Smiling, Victoria leaned back in her chair. The very picture of nonchalance. “I’m so pleased to hear we are of a similar mindset. Banshees and hunters have been working together for hundreds of years. As your abilities grow and you learn to master them, your focus on what kinds of deaths you can predict becomes easier for you to direct.” 

“Kinds of deaths?” 

“Usually when you first awaken the types of deaths will be random, scattered. You might predict the death of a patient on life support one day or a hit and run victim the next. But it is entirely possible to direct this sully to deaths caused by the supernatural.” 

Looking down at her nails, she shrugged, wanting to put off the air that none of this was new information to her. “And I assume this is what you mean when you say banshee’s help hunters? That you use us, essentially, as an early warning system.” 

“To put it crudely, yes. However, the relationship is not that simple. We also provide protection, a family, people who understand you.” 

“And if I say I don’t want to have any part of murdering my fellow students?” 

Victoria smiled, razor sharp and thin. “That is a rather crude way of putting things, I can see the school gossip has gotten to you. We don’t murder anyone, Lydia. We protect people from the bad ones.” 

“Like Peter?” 

Nodding, Victoria leaned forward now, hands clasped together on top of the desk. “Yes. Exactly like Peter Hale. He’s calmed down some now, taken a step back but that doesn’t erase what he did and who he killed.” 

“And Allison?” 

The woman’s entire posture stiffened, and the smile turned into a flat line. “Allison is not your concern. If anything, she is an example of how dangerous a man like Peter Hale is.” 

Taking another breath, Lydia let the words swirl around inside her for a moment before answering. “Does she get to die with him then?” 

“We follow a code. We only go after those who have hurt others. If Allison can keep control over herself, not let the eyes go blue, then she is safe. There are peaceful packs she could get directed to if she was willing to have a conversation.” 

Mouth dry, Lydia forced herself to ask. “Blue eyes?” 

“The sign of a killer. Derek Hale’s eyes are blue, Peter’s were as well before they turned red. So far Allison and her spastic friend have managed to keep their innocence but with an alpha like Peter Hale, I’m sure you can see why I am so intent in getting rid of him. My daughter is still in constant danger while she is at his side. Of falling, further than she has already done.” 

Fingers clenched down tightly on the arm seat, she couldn’t stop the next question from coming out of her mouth. “What about Stiles?” 

Victoria’s gaze turned calculating, hard eyes boring into hers. “Ah, yes, I have noticed that the two of you seem close. It seems that you were fast companions at a younger age. Don’t worry, as long as his innocence is kept then he had options as well.” 

“But you want me to help you.” 

Sighing, Victoria got up to move around the desk. Drawing a chair closer to her, the woman picked up her hands and squeezed. A deep sense of dread enveloped her and it took a great amount of willpower not to wrench her hands away. 

“I want you to help yourself. You’ll be valued with us, safe with us. I have resources to train you and to help you know what is going on. Peter Hale won’t be able to keep any hold over you this way.” 

“I…” It was all just too much. Her vision blurred again, trembling, she pulled her hands back. “...I don’t know. May I think about it?” 

The smile was swimming with false kindness. “Of course, my dear. Take some time. This is a lot for anyone to process, let alone someone as young and innocent as you. Don’t take too long, I know Peter will be planning something with us in town. He’ll expect you to choose his side and he will not be as gracious to a negative answer.” 

“Of course, thank you.” The words rushed out as she got to her feet. Giving the woman a last tight smile, she hurried out of the room and back to her car. She felt like there were a thousand eyes on her as she made her way across the parking lot. That jittering feeling was back and something was pinging at the back of her mind. 

She made it home without taking any unforeseen detours. It was with great relief that she shut her bedroom door and took some deep breaths. What was she supposed to do with all this? How was she supposed to make any choices when all of the choices had no good outcomes? Peter’s ‘pack’ hated her. The Argents wanted to use her like some sort of tool. Nowhere felt safe, no choice felt secure. It was like her entire world was crumbling around her and how was she supposed to survive like this? 

The doorbell ringing made her jump, banging her head against the door as she did so. Swearing under her breath, she paused before leaving her room again. The crawling feeling was back again and everything right now was screaming danger to her. No, she was a rational person, this was just because of everything that had happened with Stiles and Jennifer. Her body was going into hyper awareness, waiting for danger at every turn. 

The most likely case was that it was a delivery man at the door. They were probably gone by now anyways. Still, she waited another minute before opening her bedroom door and walking through the house. The window to the side of the door didn’t show anyone waiting there. Relaxing, she opened the door to look for the likely package. 

“Hello, Miss Martin. I do believe we have some unfinished business from last night to clear up. Mind if I come inside?” 

Feeling frozen in place, she willed herself to slam the door shut but instead she found herself moving out of the way to allow Alan Deaton to walk inside. The vet smiled at her as he walked past. Bringing up a hand to run down her cheek. 

“Mmm, I see my spell is working nicely. Be a good girl and shut the door. We wouldn’t want the neighbors getting curious about this, would we?” 

Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, her lungs constricted, without permission her arm shut the door and then her body turned towards the man. He was still smiling, looking around the house in apparent fascination. Drawing a hand down her arm, he began to lead her through the house to the backyard. 

“Don’t worry, Miss Martin, this won’t take much time and then you’ll be able to get back to your day. You see, I need your abilities to grow faster than they will on their own.” 

Tears started to fall down her face, she tried to tug away. Tutting, he continued until they were outside. Drawing her over to stand on the grass, he gave her another serene smile. Here we are, I’d explain what I was doing but you won’t remember any of this, so I don’t see the point.

Opening her mouth, she tried to scream but his hand moved. A thumb pressed against her forehead and her vision went dark.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are ramping up to the end game now! Still unsure how many chapters to go but the action should stay pretty constant at this point while Gerard and Deaton put things into motion.

As soon as the sheriff’s department had put Gerard into the back of the SUV, Stiles sprang into action. First, he sent off a barrage of texts to his informants in the department. Then, Peter and Derek needed to be updated. Finally, he cocked his head, filtering out all the other noises to find the distinctive hum of Lydia’s heartbeat. 

Pausing as he approached, he shifted out of the way of the moving mass of students. It would be a miracle if classes started on time with all of the action that had gone on already. It gave him plenty of time to take in the redhead at her locker. There was something not quite right about her. A slight tremble in her hands and then for a moment she went still, eyes gazing off the side. Alarmed now, he rushed over to her. 

Her scent was all wrong. It made his metaphorically hackles rise, causing some deep instinctual need to find whatever had done this to her and tear it into pieces. The conversation did not go well, so as he watched her leave, he was as baffled as he had started. Growling a little, he rubbed at the back of his head. Dammit, he should be better at scenting by now. But no, he couldn’t pick out what the difference was. He just knew it was wrong. 

Dropping with a thud into his seat next to Allison in English, he peered around to check that Scott wasn’t there yet, then leaned over to nudge her. 

“Did Lydia smell different to you?” 

“What?” Allison startled up then frowned. “No, she smelled the same as she always does.” 

“Something wasn’t right. Could you try and get closer to her to double check?” 

The flat glare that was her response to that felt a bit too much. “No. As I explained I am not friends with her.” 

“But this could be super important! Please Allison…” 

Leaning over, she lowered her voice and growled a bit. “No. And don’t obsess over it. It’s probably just a different perfume and some of us don’t pay attention to every little thing Lydia Martin does with her life.” 

Feeling stung and a little hurt, he pulled back. The rest of the class had filed in by then anyways. It was hard to pay attention to the teacher, he kept trying the whole class to see if he could scent Lydia from across the room. It proved impossible with all the students and other scents in the way. By the end of class, he had a headache from all of the scent overload. 

On his way to the next class he pulled out his phone and texted Peter. Hoping that the alpha wouldn’t be holding enough of a grudge to ignore his worries about Lydia. The rest of the day seemed to drag on forever. It had been impossible to get close to the redhead at lunch and he’d had to finally stop talking about it as Allison grew too annoyed. He never thought he’d miss the days when Allison was in the ‘in’ crowd at Lydia’s side, but here he was, missing those days. 

Mid-afternoon came with the distraction of Luke finally getting back to him about Gerard. “Score!” 

“Bilinski! This isn’t the lacrosse field, keep your fantasies to yourself during my class.” 

Bright red, he sank into his seat. He hadn’t realized he had spoken out loud upon receival of the text. By the time class ended, he was vibrating in his seat and blasted out of the room, dragging Jackson with him to go find Allison. Once he had procured her, he herded them outside and to a picnic table. 

“This better be important, Coach is gonna skin me for being late to practice.” 

“Yeah, yeah, team captain yada yada. Do you want to hear about the evidence against Gerard or not?” 

Allison perked up, “You heard back? What is it? Will it stick?” 

“A neighbor of the Johnson house, the one that burned down on Saturday is apparently super paranoid and has a camera pointed at their front porch and the driveway. I guess someone had been stealing their newspaper and they want to catch whomever it is in the act. But anyways, it totally caught a car that matches Gerard’s to a T outside the house right before it went up in flames. You can’t see him in the video but it’s still pretty damning evidence.” 

“That’s amazing! I really hope it sticks. Oh my god, that would be so relieving to have this all over.” 

Jackson got up, nodding. “Well, i guess you’ll be getting a new wolf pack member sooner than you thought.” 

Rolling his eyes, Stiles thwacked him on the arm. “Really dude? That’s what you want to focus on? You becoming a werewolf and not you know, a killer going to jail for his crimes?” 

“Yeah, sure, those things too. Later losers, I have a practice to get too and a McCall to bust into pieces.” 

Watching him go, Allison shook her head. “He’ll never change, will he?” 

“Nope. But come on! Let’s text Derek and see if he wants to stop and get pizza and ice cream with us before going on. We gotta celebrate tonight!” 

Her grin blinding, Allison hugged him tightly. “This is the best news. We definitely need to celebrate!” 

The rest of the day passed in a blur as he worked on sorting through all the information that was coming to him. All his informant deputies were sending the case details while the student body was in a frenzy over finding out more details about who had been killed. It was at lunch time that the rumor of students being missing got to him. 

He’d been concentrating on scrolling through the pictures Luke was sending him of the crime scene to try and figure out any patterns when Danny’s voice broke through his concentration. 

“Yeah, and Mark wasn’t in any of his classes either, which is weird you know, his mom usually has to force him to stay home if he’s sick.” 

Spinning around, he fixed Danny with a look. “Either? What’s up with the either? Does that mean other people weren’t in class? Spill, Danny.” 

“I don’t remember when we became friends, Stilinski.” 

Narrowing his eyes, he flailed at Jackson while resisting the urge to snarl. “You want to sit at our table, Danny boy, then you have to tell us things.” 

The table had gone silent. Allison had paused with her fork halfway to her mouth and was giving him a bewildered look. Jackson looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole. Danny looked around confused at the rest of the students sitting there. “I’m pretty sure it’s you, sitting at our table.” 

“Oh really. Is that so? Jackson?” 

Looking like he really wanted to go crawl in a hole now, Jackson flushed and glared at him. “Back off Stilinski.” 

The nervous, buzzing energy of the day was crawling up through his skin stronger than before. The urge to grab Jackson by the back of the neck and make the other teen submit to him was almost overwhelming. How dare a beta defy him like this? 

“Ok! Sorry Danny, Stiles is just really on edge about all this. Could you please tell us what else you?” Allison jumped into the conversation, smiling soft and coaxing. The angry thing in him settled at her words, allowing him to sit back down and fade into the background again. It soon came out that seven students, all part of the school’s band, hadn’t been in class. 

Without prompting Allison was able to dispatch some of the other table members to go ask for more details as Stiles pulled out his pen and paper to write down the names. He became so busy tracking down information on the students that he was late for his next class. His worry about the missing students seemed to ignite the rest of the school into fear as well. By the end of the day, there were huddled humps of students all talking about going to their houses and checking on them. 

Knowing that he really needed Lydia for his but he was unable to find her. Cursing, he went for the next best thing. Her second in command, Emily. 

“Hey, Emily…” 

“Stiles.” The clump of girls shot him looks of disinterest. 

“Hey, uh, can I talk to you for a minute?” 

Flicking her nails, she raised her eyebrows. He had to resist the urge to tell her that Lydia did that look ten times better. “Please?” 

“Fine. What?” 

Ten minutes of intense negotiation later (Lydia had taught her minions well), he left, feeling like he’d just been put through a meat grinder but, in success. Emily was going to gather the data he needed from the students as they went to check on their friends and then report back to him. In return he was supposed to check in on Lydia later in the day. He was still confused on why the other girl couldn’t do it but had already been planning to go talk to Lydia so hadn’t pursued the why behind it. 

Now that was done, he made his way to the front of school where Allison was already standing there with Derek and Jackson. Jogging up to them, he leapt on Derek’s back to aggressively rub his face all over the back of Derek’s head. The older beta growled and tried to drag him off but he could tell by the beta’s scent that Derek was pleased with the affection. 

“Ice cream? Pizza? Then you gotta drop me off at the sheriff’s station, big guy, I have snooping to do.” 

Rolling his eyes, Derek managed to dump him in the grass. “I’m dropping you off a block away where Peter is waiting.” 

All other thoughts fled his brain in an instant. Scrambling up, he grabbed Derek and Allison’s hands to drag them towards the camaro. “Why are we still standing here? Let’s go, go! Have fun at practice, Jax!” 

Laughing, Allison let herself be dragged. “Hmm...I think Stiles is willing to forget all about us when it comes to Peter. I think I’m offended.” 

Feeling himself turn pink, he shuffled by the locked car door. “Uh…sorry?” 

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and pushed him into the car. “Don’t be sorry, I’m really happy you two are in a good place now. It was really hard on Derek and I too, when Peter was being an idiot.” 

Humming in acknowledgement of this, he felt himself start vibrating in eagerness to see Peter as Derek pulled out and then down a side street. He sprang from the car, shouting goodbyes and flung his arms around his alpha. Peter’s warmth and scent were things he just wanted to curl up in and never leave. 

Peter nuzzled at his forehead for a minute before pulling back. “As wonderful as it is to hold you, sweetheart, I do need to drive to take you to our destination.” 

Sighing, he let himself be untangled and climbed into the car. “Does this destination have kissing places? Because I vote for somewhere we can kiss.” 

Giving him a dark look, the kind of look that made his whole body shiver, Peter smirked. “Only kissing? Or are other things on your mind.” 

“Fuck, it is not fair how hot you are.” Throwing back his head, Peter laughed as he put the car into drive. “I’m serious, Peter! You’re like some greek god and I’m like, pale, skinny me.” A hand landed on his thigh, inching its way towards what his dad would call a bad touch area. No, don’t think about dad right now, ugg. 

Not wanting to let his thoughts spiral into thinking about his and that still rocky relationship, he focused his attention onto trying to get Peter to tell him where they were going. It was nice to have a moment to not think about all the dead bodies or psychopathic hunters. They pulled up to a familiar looking parking spot but it wasn’t until he got out of the car and scented around that he realized where they were. 

“The nemeton?” 

Nodding, Peter pressed a hand on the small of his back. “Mmm… I thought it would be wise to revisit as it is so vital for my claim and bond to the land.” 

He felt himself growing more tense the closer they got to the old stump, so focused as he was on everything going on in the forest around him, he missed that Peter had stopped until he had gotten a few feet away from the alpha. Spinning around and on the alert for possible danger, he gave Peter a wide eyed look. 

“What makes you so tense?” 

“Peter, the last time we were here all hell broke loose! Who knows what other dangers could be lurking.” 

A small smile ghosted over Peter’s lips before morphing into a smirk. “Sweetheart, come here.” Obeying with a grumble, he slunk over to the alpha’s side and let the wolf capture his waist in strong arms. Still not trusting the surroundings, he kept his eyes and ears on the alert. Peter brushed a hand down his cheek until firm fingers caught his chin up. “Do you trust me?” 

Gaping at the wolf a bit, he bared his teeth in a silent snarl. “What kind of question is that? Of course I trust you! You think I would have done any of what I’ve done for you if I didn’t trust you?” 

A soothing rumbling noise came up from Peter’s chest. “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t after the events of the past week. I failed you, Stiles, magic or not, I failed you. I promised you that this wasn’t a dictatorship and I did the exact opposite. I took advantage of your loyalty to me, and our bond. I’m not talking about just the big picture trust, I mean with us, in everything.” 

About to snap back a reply, he paused as the words began to sink in. For a moment, he struggled to respond. “I...I don’t know… I do with so much but Peter… I get dismissed all the time and it really hurt, that you did it too.” 

Peter’s eyes softened as they stared into his. “I know. I did the very thing I promised I would never do. I never want to treat you as a child or an inconvenience. You are my mate, my second, the rest of the pack responds to this instinctually even now.” 

Feeling a bit like he’d had the strings cut from underneath him, he reached out to tangle his fingers in Peter’s shirt. “What does that mean? I thought Derek --” 

“Derek has been doing many of the duties of a second because you are so new to being a wolf. In training and guidance. He also isn’t in school so is available. But sweetheart, you are my true equal, the one who will be the guide if I’m not there or who I’ll send in my place. It’s why Allison and Derek were so hurt and unsettled when I was treating you poorly and you were hurt. It’s not right for an alpha and their mate to be out of sync like that.” 

“But I’m just a spazzy teenager! Peter I can’t even make friends. Everyone at school hates me!” 

Chuckling, Peter leaned forward to kiss him long and deep, only pulling back when he was gasping for air. Cupping the back of his neck, Peter let out a deep rumble. “Who brought Allison into the pack? And Jackson? Even Derek only joined because he was already seeking you out as a packmate. You are the linchpin of this pack, darling, my beautiful and terrifying mate.” 

Not knowing what else to do, he kissed Peter back, hard and desperate. The alpha growled into his mouth, deepening the kiss as roving hands tightened against his back. There was a sudden, overwhelming urge to get as close to Peter as he could get. 

There was a distant click and he felt himself tense, then Peter threw them both to the ground as something whizzed over their heads exploding into a tree just past them. Flinging himself off the ground with a hand dragging Stiles up by his shirt, Peter threw him forward. “Run.” 

Another tree exploded to his right as he took off into the forest, Peter zagging sideways to his left. Two more exploding rounds of tree guts splintered on him as he darted right then left around the underbrush. High ground, he needed to get to high ground. 

A million thoughts raced through his mind and were discarded as he continued his mad dash, heading towards where he could hear the trickling sound of water. The shooter’s pants and grunts were obvious now as the man (woman?) pursued him. Peter was still on his left, opening his own way through the foliage and dodging more bullets. 

The cacophony made it difficult to tell how many were hunting them. The whizzing of the bullets, the crashing feet behind, and his own panting breaths made it hard to filter out enough to hone in on Peter, let alone start to analyze the amount of what had to be hunters chasing them. 

As he leaped over a small ravine, he promised himself that if they got out of this alive, he would thank Derek profusely for all the mandatory sprints through the forest. His body seemed to remember how to duck, weave and dash low, as the swearing voices of the pursuers got more distance. 

Mindful that the hunters had more than just guns as methods of werewolf hunting, he paused in a dense clump of trees, forcing himself to slow his breathing and straining to hear anything that might give him a clue to if there was an ambush up ahead. A roaring howl broke through the silence, startling him sideways. Not hearing anything close by, he changed courses, breaking left to scramble up another incline. 

Sharp pain tore into his thigh and with a scream, he lost his hold on the hillside and tumbled back down to land with a crack on the ground. Surging up to his feet, another bullet tore into his side, flinging him back down. Before he could try to run again, a heavy booted foot hit his back, forcing his face into the dirt. 

“Looky here, just a pup, aren’t you? Hoping you were the big guy himself, but I’ll take the pack whore, all the same. You let him mount you, boy?” 

Rage coursed through him but squeezing his eyes shut, he forced himself to not react to the taunts. It had been his earliest lesson in bullies. Never let them know their words hurt. The boot moved up to slam into his neck, making him release a strangled cry. 

“Thompson!” 

“Over here! I got one.” 

“Well done, think we lost the alpha, though Taylor got a couple rounds in him. Trying to draw us away from this one I think.” 

“A couple rounds might get rid of him anyways. Though it’s not the real good stuff. Kate was better at handing that shit out than the old man is.” 

“At least he still gives us some shit, not like the ice bitch. The woman thinks we can get wolfsbane with our minds or some such idiocy. Oh, here comes Taylor. Put another one in the kid’s shoulder so he’ll be easy to drag along.” 

Pain burst out from his shoulder, causing him to scream again. The men around him laughed as one reached down to grip the injured arm to drag him up. Trying to somehow control his panic, he lashed out with the good arm. He managed to get his claws into an arm before another slammed the but of the gun into his face. 

Crumpling to the ground as agonizing pain lanced through his head. The journey through the forest was done in a bleary haze, he was sure he passed out for some of it, only to come awake when he was knocked into a tree or bush, sending more shooting pain through his body. He could at least see again when they entered a dirt parking area, meant for some of the more adventurous backcountry hikers. 

He was left in a heap on the ground while they went to open the car and do whatever else fuckwad hunters did. It felt like his whole body was on fire, he knew he’d thrown up multiple times on the forest drag but his stomach was still rolling. The rough hands pulled at him again, caring little for his injuries. Something tight and burning was latched around his wrists before he was shoved into the back of the SUV. 

There was no way to tell how long the jarring, painful, car ride lasted. They were driving agonizingly slow, with loud music blaring that was making his head throb. It was a sickening relief when they hit pavement. He was struggling to keep his eyes from sliding shut when a loud bang followed by the SUV swerving threw him into the seat backs. 

“What the fuck was that?” 

“Dammit, Thompson, we got a flat.” 

“Fucking shit.” 

“Why are you still driving? Pull over, moron! We’re about to hit the gully and like fuck do we need to be driving on a flat through there.” 

“Shuddup, Taylor, like fuck I’m stopping right now when there might be an alpha werewolf after us.” 

“That dog was so pumped full of lead, he ain’t moving for days. Pull the fuck over.” 

More swearing and arguing but the SUV slowed to a stop. Car doors slammed. Stiles lay still, his body was still emanating pain but his head was getting clearer. Concentrating on deep, full breaths, he focused on his claws. The ropes on his hands burned but there, the claws slicked through them. 

Next, he needed to get the bullets out. He was pretty sure the one in the shoulder had gone straight through but the leg and stomach was pulsing. According to Derek’s (many) lectures, that meant the body was trying to heal around something. Holding back a whimper, he shifted on his back, freezing to listen to where the hunter’s were. All he needed to do was get out and away enough that they would decide it wasn’t worth it or possible to follow him. This gully sounded ideal, he could survive crashing down it, they could not. 

A scream outside made him bolt upright, only to collapse as his stomach sent shooting pain through his torso. Curling up, he swore, panting as he tried to muster up enough willpower to get up again. Gunfire went off, another scream and wild shout. A heavy thud as something was slammed into the SUV, making it rock. 

The back of the SUV was torn open, to reveal a bloodied but alive, Peter. Throwing himself into the alpha, he felt himself sob in relief. The grip on him tightened as he was pulled out of the SUV only for the two of them to collapse together on the road’s shoulder. Peter’s face was buried into his neck and he could feel the wolf’s whole body trembling. 

“Are they all dead?” 

Peter rumbled an affirmative, while dragging his hands up and down Stiles’ body. Whimpering, he twisted sideways as Peter’s hand hit one of the bullet wounds. Freezing, the alpha carefully untangled them and scooped him back up to deposit him on the edge of the SUV. 

“Where did they shoot you?” 

“Leg, stomach, shoulder…” 

The growl was expected but it still warmed him to hear Peter’s possessive anger. “Sit still, I’ll go collect the bullets.” 

The bodies must have been close as it felt like seconds before the wolf was back at his side, uncapping bullets and hunting around for a lighter. The burning of the wolfsbane was almost worse than the wounds themselves. He must have blacked out because the next thing he was aware of was Peter’s face on his and those warm arms holding him so tight. 

“There you are, sweetheart, you’re ok. I’ve got you.” 

“Sorry...I’m sorry.” 

“For what?” Peter tilted his head back, eyes flashing red. “For getting caught? That’s not on you. I got complacent and lazy. I should have expected them to strike back like this but I was a fool and almost paid for it.” 

Wishing he could believe the words but his gut refused to stop churning with shame and guilt. He should have been better, faster, stronger. Shaking his head, he wriggled his body, trying to pull free to stand up. His legs still shook but were able to hold him once Peter had gotten him to his feet. 

Looking around, he winced at the carnage. The hunters had been torn to pieces, no wonder Peter had blood all over him. Speaking of… “shit, Peter, we’ll have to get rid of all our clothing because my dad won’t be able to explain this away if we’re caught with their blood on us.” 

Peter gazed over the bodies with a satisfied scent wafting off him. “We’ll pile them all back up in the SUV and then push it into the gully. It’ll be hard for them to find any evidence beyond wild animals tore them up. We’ll destroy the clothes to be safe but it shouldn’t come back on us.” 

Still feeling nervous but knowing Peter was most likely correct, he managed to get enough strength to help the wolf complete the task. When they were finished with that, they began the slow task of making their way back to where they had started. At one point Peter paused, staring in the forest, body taunt and coiled. 

Still on the rush of adrenaline, Stiles froze as well, taking deep breaths to calm himself enough to try and listen to the noises around them. It felt like several agonizing minutes before the alpha relaxed again. 

“I apologize, I think it was a bear.” 

Chuckling weakly, he leaned forward to rest his forehead on Peter’s bicep. “Don’t apologize for being super careful right now. I’d so much rather be paranoid than dead.” 

Lips pressed against his head and a hand brushed down his arm. “We’ll get through this, Stiles, I promise.” 

Gazing back into Peter’s eyes, he nodded. “I know. And I do, I do trust you. I knew you’d be coming. I never doubted that for a moment.” 

A small smile flitted over the alpha’s face before they were off and moving again. Coming back into the house was both a relief and then exhausting again. Both Derek and Allison were on them as soon as they stepped inside, demanding answers. It took several hours to go over everything in detail and then they had to go over it all again once his dad got home. 

After dinner, they had moved back into the main room where his dad was still tense about the events of the day. “They are getting too bold, to attack like that in broad daylight. I don’t like any of this.” 

“Dad, come on, I’m fine, Peter’s fine, can we just have one relaxing evening?” He knew his voice had shifted into a half whine but he was curled up into Peter who was running hands through his hair and for once he had been able to stop his mind from racing through all the disaster scenarios. 

Sighing, his dad sat down in the chair and gave Peter a halfhearted glare. “But you almost weren’t fine. Something needs to be done about Gerard’s crew. I wish you hadn’t killed them so we could have had justified reason to arrest his men or the rest of the family.” 

“Because it would have been so easy to explain the human sized dent in the car or the slashed tires.” Peter said, tone bored as he rolled his eyes. Before the sheriff could say anything else, Peter stood up, pushing Stiles upward with him. 

“You are correct that it can’t continue, Noah, but rehashing the same situation over and over is helping no one. I think we need some ice cream.” His dad sighed but didn’t make an argument against Peter’s words. Smiling, the alpha continued speaking. “Stiles, do you want to make your own abomination of a sundae or will you let me educate you on the finer pleasures of enjoying simple things.” 

Mock growling, he leapt up and tackled Peter as the alpha was making his way towards the kitchen. Peter easily flipped him onto the floor then caught him up around the waist as he tried to scramble back up. Ignoring his whines of protest, Peter half dragged him into the kitchen before pushing him up against the counter with a smirk. 

“Stay.” 

A thrill of heat pulsed through him, the dark look in Peter’s eyes did nothing help his growing arousal. Hoping that Derek and Allison knew better than to say anything in front of his dad, he whined again as he tilted his head in submission. Peter’s own scent spiked with want and in a blink he had an alpha breathing heavily into his neck. 

“Such a tease…” A tongue licked up his neck to his ear. Suppressing a whimper, he wriggled against the tight hold. 

“Peter.” He said, hissing the words. “My dad.” 

“Hmm...you did start this, darling...but don’t worry, when I take you for the first time it will be when I can hear every delightful moan and whimper that comes out of that pretty mouth of yours.” 

“Fuck.” 

Peter pulled away, smirking as his eyes flicked down to Stiles’ obvious erection. “Exactly.” 

A loud crash in the room next to him shocked him back into the present. Face heated, he flung himself over to the freezer and wrenched open the door to throw his head inside. Derek huffed his way into the kitchen, holding pieces of a broken glass and glaring at both of them. 

“Stop it. Both of you. Allison and I don’t need to hear any of this either.” 

“Why nephew, don’t tell me you’re going all dainty and prim on me. You should remember well enough what it is like to live in a house with werewolves.” 

Derek rolled his eyes as he dropped the pieces of glass into the garbage and grabbed a broom. “Just get your damn ice cream and get back in the room.” 

“So dramatic. I’d say it was learned behavior but he came out of his mother’s womb this way. All pout and adorable scruffs of hair.” 

Biting back a giggle, Stiles tossed the cartons of ice cream on the counter top then went rooting through the fridge for all the toppings he needed. Peter followed Derek back into the larger room to continue to harass his nephew while Stiles set up the sundae buffet. 

When he flopped back into the couch, wriggling into between Peter and Derek, he let out a contented hum. The night wasn’t perfect as the lingering cloud of the threats of the remaining hunters was still a tendril of tension but he could still allow himself this moment of peace. What would have made it even better was if Lydia and Jackson were here. But Jackson had needed to spend some time with his parents and Lydia… He hoped that soon he’d be able to convince everyone that she deserved better, he knew why they were mad but -- 

“Stop thinking so much, just enjoy the night.” Peter said, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he nodded. 

“Yeah, ok, we’re all here and ok.” 

“Hell yes, we are.” Allison said, lifting her bowl of ice cream into the air. “We can cheer for that.” 

Laughing, Stiles lifted his own bowl up as well. “Cheers! Aww, come on sourwolf, get into the happy vibes.” 

After he and Derek finished their squabble (and ice cream) he was dozing lightly against Peter when Allison’s heart upticked enough to pull him out of sleep to stare at her in concern. 

“Whatza matter, Ally?” 

“I don’t...I don’t know.” before anyone could ask her more, she had tapped her phone and he could hear the ringing noise as she held it to her ear. “Dad?” 

“Allison.” Victoria’s voice came through crisp and cool. 

“Where’s dad? He texted me.” 

“Chris is busy at the moment. I would like to speak to your alpha.” 

Allison’s hand shook as it clung to the phone. “No. I want to talk to dad.” 

“What you want is no longer relevant. Hand the phone to Peter Hale.” 

He adjusted off Peter’s lap so the alpha could move over to pluck the phone out of Allison’s grasp. “Hello, Victoria, it’s been too long since I’ve had the pleasure of your voice. How is dear Christopher, by the way?” 

“You killed three of my hunters today.” 

“Did I?”

“I wish to discuss terms.” 

Eying his fingers with a distracted air, Peter paused for a moment before responding. “Do you know?” Flicking his eyes over to Allison, who had her hands clenched tightly at her side, he sighed heavily. “Where is Christopher, Victoria?” Stiles could hear nothing but the woman’s shallow breathing for what seemed like an eternity. 

“In two days. The old mill. Bring whomever you wish.” 

The line went dead.


	15. Chapter 15

She couldn’t breathe for what seemed like far too long. Nothing her mother had said made sense. Her dad couldn’t be…? Refusing to let herself get caught up in the midst of the panic, she swung around the pack and stormed towards the door. 

“Allison!” 

Jerking her arm out of Derek’s reaching hand, she let her eyes blaze gold for a moment. “I’m going to go find him and none of you are going to stop me.” 

“We aren’t trying to stop you but you need to wait a moment and think.” That was Peter, maneuvering himself between her and the door. 

“I need to go find my dad, help me or move.” 

“I am going to help you but you need to take a minute to breathe and think. Victoria has always been a clever strategist, she wouldn’t have said what she said without knowing how it would make you react. She called you from his phone for a reason, Allison, she wants you upset and not thinking clearly.” 

Knowing he was right but hating it all the same, she snarled and backed up a few steps. “Ok, let’s talk then. What do we need to discuss before going and finding him?” 

“What does she gain from this? That’s the first question.” The sheriff said, coming up next to her. “Gerard is in jail, three hunters, that theoretically, she sent out to either kill or capture Peter and Stiles are dead. What does she gain by making you believe your father is in danger?” 

“Dissention.” Stiles said. “Victoria wouldn’t believe that Peter would care about Chris. She would think that Peter either wouldn’t let Allison or send Allison off on her own to find him. This would cause us to fracture again, potentially have to choose sides.” 

Peter slid back into the group, pausing to pull her into a tight hug. “If he’s in danger, we’ll find him, but I can’t lose my pack members because a hunter is playing games with us.” Finding comfort in the touch, she hid her face in her alpha’s shoulder. 

A new hand brushed down her arm, by scent she knew it was Derek. Forcing herself to leave the warmth of Peter’s arms she turned to her fellow beta and tried to smile. “I’m sorry, I know you all can’t risk yourselves for him. It could be a trap, he could even be part of the trap.” She couldn’t keep going past the lump in her throat. 

Making a distressed noise, Derek pulled her to his side and pressed his nose into her hair. “An attack against you is an attack against the pack, regardless if it comes through hurting someone we don’t like.” 

“There are also other options we have other than just you all going vigilante wolf on them.” The sheriff said, walking through the room and shaking his head. “I needed to speak to both of your parents in regards to Gerard. I’ll send someone over to bring them in first thing in the morning. That should hopefully get us some answers, if he’s missing then I can call it suspicious circumstances and put out an alert in the county.” 

Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she nodded as she leaned into Derek’s warmth. “Ok, ok, that makes sense. I’m sorry for panicking. I shouldn’t -- well, I’m sorry.” 

The next two days became a ceaseless exercise in control. When the sheriff went to her parent’s house early Tuesday morning, there was no one there. Not only that but as they gained entrance through a search warrant, they discovered that the house had been effectively stripped of any possible evidence. That all the firearms were missing seemed to be what got the law enforcement the most concerned. 

It took an epic fight on Tuesday evening between the sheriff and Peter to get the wolf to grudgingly agree to go on record with law enforcement about the phone call with Victoria. The sheriff’s goal was to try to have as much incriminating evidence as he could against her mother (and maybe father, though this still made her feel sick that her dad could have been part of any of it) as he could. 

Wednesday brought the news that the state police were arriving. It was at lunch when Stiles, flushed and wide eyed, through himself down next to her. Nerves zinging with all the worry, she snapped at him, harder than she should have. “What?” 

“You know what my dad texted this morning about the state coming in?” He rushed on, not waiting for her reply. “I got a text from Luke saying that they know the why now. When they ran Gerard’s DNA in the system it came back as being linked to multiple unsolved arson cases across the state and country. I guess it’s causing a huge thing up above and my dad’s been officially kicked off the case.” 

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Jackson said, leaning forward with raised eyebrows. “More reasons to get that old creep stuck in jail for a very long time.” 

“I didn’t say it wasn’t good!” Stiles threw his hands in the air and glared at the jock. Further down the table, Danny chuckled. 

“Well, at least that means no more principal Argent for us then.” Danny said. 

Stiles grimaced. “Yeah, but also now we are never going to know what the creep was planning. Also, you do know we are still missing seven Beacon Hills highschool students and no one has been able to find them right?” 

The rest of the table shifted uncomfortably. All of it just made Allison want to scream. None of this helped find her dad. The conversation devolved into a debate over Gerard and what they all thought he had been trying to do as their principal. As only three of them knew about werewolves, it made the debate pointless so Allison let her gaze wander around the room. 

Lydia was holding court on the other side of the cafeteria. Her usual entourage, minus the Jackson half, were all whispering together. Lydia herself though, made Allison pause. Stiles was still insistent that something was wrong with Lydia, but had been unable to gain any traction in getting help to investigate with everything else going on. After the attack Monday afternoon, either the sheriff or one of his deputies had picked them up from school every day. It added an extra layer of protection that was starting to grate on both of them. 

Watching Lydia now, made Allison start to wonder if Stiles was onto something. The other girl looked paler than normal with a bit too much makeup on. Deciding that there was only one way to be sure, she got up and moved across the room. Emily was sitting directly next to Lydia and gave Allison a challenging look as she approached. “What do you want?” The table quieted but she refused to let that intimidate her. 

“I need advice on nail polish.” Was the first thing she thought of to say. Barreling on through the confused looks, she quickly threw together a story. “I’ve been taking lots of martial arts classes because of the worry over my family and I need help with knowing what nail polish to use for I don’t constantly have pieces coming off.” 

“And you came to us?” Lydia’s arched eyebrow would have been infuriating if Allison couldn't see the faint tremble in the other girl’s hands. Forcing room for herself on the bench of the lunch table, she gave the redhead her best smile. 

“Who better to talk to? I thought that anything else I heard would have come from here so better to go to the source, right?” 

Lips thinning but seemingly unwilling to cause a scene, Lydia nodded stiffly before launching into a detailed lecture on how to properly take care of your nails and then layer nail polish on them. Throughout the lecture, she focused on picking out all the chemo signals Lydia was giving off. By the time the bell rang, she was convinced that there was something wrong with Lydia and that the other girl knew it too. 

Not wanting to risk anyone overhearing them, she waited until classes ended before telling Stiles while they waited for the sheriff to pick them up. His reaction was not what she was expecting. 

“Right, so now you’ve figured this out and…?” 

Taken aback, she glared at him. “What is wrong with you? I thought you’d be happy that I’d confirmed your suspicions.” 

“Oh my wolf gods, Allison, what would have made me happy is if you had believed me when I first said something. Or how about the second time I said something? Look. I get you are super stressed with your dad. I can’t imagine how out of my mind I’d be if it was my dad who was missing...but you’ve been super dismissive of Lydia here for no reason and then without an ally I haven’t been able to convince anyone else that I need to check in on her and I’ve been going out of my mind in worry.” 

“Oh. Stiles I…” 

Shaking his head, he looked away. “It’s fine. Doesn’t matter. Did she look like anything to you? Other than not ok? I feel like I smell something on her that I should recognize but I can’t get close enough for long enough to know what it is.” 

“It reminded me of something too but -- oh shit.” Eyes wide, she reached out and gripped Stiles’ hand with her own. “The vet clinic. She smelled a little like the vet clinic.” 

Gaze sharpening, Stiles clenched her hand in his. “Deaton is a magic user.” 

“The bodies, the fire, they needed a magic user.” 

“Fuck. Why am I such an idiot.” Scrambling for his phone, he hit the buttons with shaking fingers. While it rang, she looked around the area, scanning for a certain redhead. Not seeing anyone, she focused back on Stiles as Peter picked up the phone. It took a couple minutes of back and forth before the alpha agreed to go with them to the vet clinic that evening. The sheriff arrived before either of them could go look for Scott or Lydia. 

The sheriff was not convinced by their argument but she thought this might have more to do with the man’s exhaustion from work and the arrival of the state police than lack of trust in their theory. Things like scent and other wolf senses were also still hard for the man to wrap his mind around and treat as legitimate. By the time they reached the house, both her and Stiles were on edge and jittery. 

Before Stiles could get a good rant going about Lydia and Deaton, the sheriff cut him off by ushering both of them through the house. “Both of you, sit, here. Before we get off on this tangent I need to talk to Peter about tonight.” 

The alpha, who had been following them with a bemused air, now sharpened his gaze onto Noah. “Alright, you have me curious now.” 

Rubbing at his forehead, the sheriff sat down on a chair with a deep sigh. “Look. As you know, I passed on the information about the phone call. State has decided to put a contingent around the old mill and it is imperative that none of you are there tonight.” 

Stiffening, Allison opened her mouth but a look from Peter stopped her before she could get the words out. “I understand. We will be nowhere near the mill tonight.” 

Squinting at the wolf, Noah shifted his gaze around the rest of them. Stiles was vibrating in his seat next to her but something must have passed between him and Peter because the teen was remaining silent. For her part, Allison had so many different emotions and thoughts running through her head, she just nodded, not feeling up to arguing about it. 

“Excellent, I hope you know if you break this trust Peter, there is going to be some difficult conversations in our future.” 

Stiles snorted and then flailed when they all looked at him. “More difficult than the ones we already had? Like, holy shit, can we all just trust each other by now? Please? Dad, Peter wants the Argent’s gone and if the police can do it, he’s fine with that. But we also have to be careful. They aren’t idiots and if Deaton is the magic user that means there could be a lot more going on than we thought previously.” 

“Stiles...this is my job. I’m already on thin ice because of how closely it all connects with me and the Hales.” 

“And we are all attempting to discover how to meld both that and pack life together.” Peter cut in, placing a hand on Stiles’ shoulder while meeting Noah’s gaze. “Trust goes both ways, Noah. I am trusting that this will work and clear us of danger. You need to trust that if I have to act in other ways for the best interest of my pack that you are included in that. I will do what I have to in order to keep my pack safe and that includes fall out.” 

Shoulders slumping, Noah gave them all a rueful look. “I understand. Well, I have to get back to the station. I’ll let you know if we find anything out about Chris.” 

Almost as soon as Noah had walked out the door, Stiles turned and pounced on Peter. “You said mill, that means we are going to the vet clinic, right?” 

Letting out a low rumble, Peter kissed Stiles before turning to look at her. “I am ready for this to end. Yes, we are going to the vet clinic. If this theory is correct then it is possible that Deaton may know of your father’s location and anything else Gerard might be planning. I do believe a detour to Lydia’s house could be enlightening as well.” 

Nerves humming, Allison felt a thrill race through her. This was good, they needed to start not only reacting to all this. It felt so good to go out with her pack, on the hunt against those who were against them. 

Lydia’s house was dark, no heartbeats within it. Stiles pulled out a key, blushing at the rolled eyes Derek gave him. “What? I have keys to anywhere I might ever need to go. Ok?” 

“Clever, sweetheart, I approve.” Peter’s grin was sharp and white in the gathering darkness. 

Preening, Stiles pushed the door open and slipped inside. The first scent to hit her nose was the overwhelming wave of plants, ash, and fear. Making a broken noise, Stiles dashed forward. Keeping close on his heels, she paused at the entrance to Lydia’s room. She had only been here once before but it had been meticulous in it’s neatness. Now it had scattered papers, the bed unmade, and books spread everywhere. 

Peter and Derek’s eyes both glowed as they stalked in by her to start examining the room itself. Stiles was at the desk, flipping through the papers there, his own eyes bright blue. A snarl made her go over to grab at the paper he was holding. It was a picture of a forest with seven figures tied to stakes in the ground, in the center of the clearing was Gerard, holding a flaming sword. On the bottom of the picture Lydia had written the words, ‘dream? Memory? When?’ in shaky letters. 

Other papers had similar drawings, some of the faces up close and others of further away. Gasping, she grabbed at one that had another figure on it.. “Scott.” Stiles said, snarling the word, looking over at Peter who was flipping through the books. Derek, who had disappeared, came back in the room at that moment, face grim. 

“It looks like there was some sort of ritual down outside. I can smell ash and various herbs. I can’t pick out which ones were used and you’re both right, it smells like the vet clinic.” 

“What game are they playing at?” Peter said, murmuring the words almost to himself, still focused on the book in front of him. Moving closer, Allison saw that it was a book on waking dreams. 

“Bad things! Really bad things! We have to find her, now! I’ve failed her, oh shit, I should have never ignored her or left her alone. She saved our lives and I treated her like garbage. We need to go, to the clinic or find Scott, or --” 

Crossing the scant distance between them, Peter gripped Stiles’ shoulder’s tightly. “Breathe. We will find her but we can’t run off in a panic, just like with Allison’s father. We should pack up all these drawings. If somehow this gets twisted up in the police investigation we don’t want them finding any of this with her things in case they think she was part of it. Magic manipulated my mind is a defense I don’t believe they are ready for.” 

Radiating fury, Stiles hurried to comply while Allison went to slip back outside the room with Derek. “Hey, you ok?” The beta was clenching his fists tight, staring down the hall with a concerning expression on his face. 

“I don’t like any of this. It feels too frantic, too unknown. Like we are being manipulated into a trap of some sort.” 

All the emotions coming from the pack was starting to make her head spin. Needing some sort of anchor point, she reached out and took hold of his hand. “I’m sorry.” 

“For what?” 

“I know it can’t feel good, to help save an Argent… I --” 

“I’m not helping save an Argent. I’m helping save someone you care about. There’s a difference. Also, this isn’t just for you. This is about our pack. Using Lydia, Scott, your dad...this is an attack on us. We keep failing people. We can’t fail each other.” 

Warmth surged in her chest towards and she felt wetness start to trickle down her face. “Derek, I, thank you.” She smiled at him, loving the small crinkle he got at the edges of his eyes as he looked back at her. “I am so grateful to have you as a packmate and friend.” 

Movement made them look back as Peter and Stiles exited the room. “Let’s go to Deaton’s.” Peter said, the growl deep in the words. The aura of protective rage made all her instincts stand up and listen. Walking over to her, the alpha gripped the back of her neck. “This is when you might have to make the final choice. Your pack or your family. I hope Christopher has seen what is more important but if he’s against us…” 

Squaring her jaw, she met his eyes with a fierce look of her own. “I’m ready, alpha. I know what is at stake.” 

“Good.” 

The air felt like it was cackling with energy as they stepped outside onto the pavement next to the vet clinic. The sun had fully set now and the clouds were rolling in. Cool air whispered around them, causing mist to hiss up from the ground. A single light was lit inside. 

Peter didn’t hesitate at the door, slamming it open with a crack that echoed through the night. The air inside was thick with the smell of boiling meat, mint and garlic. Nostrils flaring, she stepped up beside her alpha. Eyes fixed on the smiling man, standing behind a barrier of wood made from rowan trees. 

“Alpha Hale.” 

“Deaton, pleasant night for a stroll, don’t you think?” 

“I can’t imagine what brings you to my humble establishment at such an hour with your full pack in tow.” 

“Can you not? Hmm, but it is alway these games with you, is it not? You know, I’ve been speaking with your sister lately, expressing my concerns on your management of the territory. Have you happened to hear from her?” 

Deaton raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Marin? No, I haven’t spoken with her in some time. Last I heard, she had been called away on some council business on the other side of the country.” 

Striding up the barrier, Peter let a clawed finger click down on the edge of the wood. The blue shimmer of ash flickered through the darkened room. The scents in the air combined with the thumping heartbeats of the animals made it impossible to tell who else might be present. 

“Yes, you would be aware of that, wouldn’t you be? Always the clever one, made up for your lack of power and skill. I suppose that’s why you needed the banshee? To make up for the lack of your own power.” 

“As always, Peter, you assume much based on very little.” 

Giving the vet a razor sharp grin. Peter backed up a step, letting his eyes blaze deep red. “I want to know where she is, Alan.” 

“I expect you want many things, Alpha Hale. That does not mean I am capable of giving any of them to you.” 

Stiles, who had been standing behind them, moved up at that moment. “Scott! Scott, I know you are here. I know this isn’t the ideal time but I thought you should know that Allison and are dating now.” 

Derek made a choking noise, Allison stared at her friend in a combination of outrage and disbelief but then Scott flew out of the back room, eyes a sickly yellow and fangs out. “You betrayer! I knew it! How could you do this to me!” 

“Scott!” Deaton said, moving to intercept the teen but not fast enough as Scott barreled through to the gate and swung it open. Stiles met his former friend head on, slamming an elbow up into the other boy’s stomach and tossing him towards the floor. Peter had already flung himself through the now open barrier as Deaton shouted something, hand out. Black ash slammed into Peter, causing the alpha to roar as he continued his arch, slashing claws deep into the vet’s shoulder. 

Derek leapt over the barrier, dashing towards the back rooms and in seconds, Allison was behind him. The two of them, careened around the corner only for a flash of white light to go off, blinding them both. Flinging her hands up, she barely deflected something large slamming down towards her. Twisting, she fell to the side, kicking out with her legs and hitting bone. Derek roared to her right and a human screamed as the smell of blood hit her nostrils. 

Eyesight returning, she rolled out of the way of the hunter bringing down an axe towards her middle, kicking into his stomach. The crack of a rib, gave her the time she needed to scramble to her feet and grab hold of the axe to wrench it out of the hunter’s grasp. WIth a snarl, she slammed the blunt end into his forehead. Stepping over his crumpled body, she continued around the corner, ears open and nostrils flaring. 

A gunshot rang out, Derek roared again. She burst into the exam room and brought the axe down on another hunter. Two others were already on the floor and Derek was sagging against the far wall, hand clenching at the bleeding stomach wound. Blood pumping, she whirled in a circle, waiting to see if any more enemies came forward. The din of the animals were drowning out all other sounds, making it impossible to know how the fight in the main room was going. 

The door slammed open, whirling around, she barely missed imbedding the axe into Stiels’ skull as he stormed into the room. “Woah, Ally!” 

“Announce yourself!” 

Hands in the air, the teen’s eyes skittered over the bloodbath, landed on Derek. “Oh shit, Derek...Peter’s hurt, Deaton got away. Scott’s out cold.” 

Letting the axe hit the ground with a thunk, she felt herself start to shake. Willing her spin to harden, she nodded at Derek and stalked back towards the main room. Stiles’ nose would be better at picking out wolfsbane strains than hers would be. Better that she protect the alpha while Stiles’ worked out what to do to heal Derek. 

Peter was slumped against the receptionist desk, skin stark and pale. A quick sweep of the room showed only Scott, still laying in a heap on the ground. Kneeling next to Peter, she tugged at his hand which was clamped onto his side. 

“Where’s the wound? I don’t see it.” 

Peter moved his hand, his whole body trembling as he did it. “Just a small knife cut but my whole body is on fire.” 

“You’re so pale.” Hand on his cheek, she winced. “But you’re burning up. Was it poison?” 

“Doesn’t feel like wolfsbane.” 

The door behind her clicked open to reveal Stiles who had Derek’s arm slung over his shoulder. Letting the beta slump to the ground next to Peter, the teen looked around the room with clenched fists. 

“I think I got all the wolfsbane out of Derek but I need to go look for what could have been on the knife. Ally…” 

Getting to her feet, she hefted up the axe. “Go, I got this.” 

Pausing to take a deep breath of Peter’s wound, the teen dashed back into the depths of the clinic. Peter snarled, trying to shift himself to get his feet underneath him. Seeing her glare, he shook his head. “It’ll be no use. Deaton wouldn’t leave that kind of poison laying around. We need to leave in case more hunters are coming. Stiles!” 

It wasn’t long before Stiles reappeared, holding a bin that was full of various canisters. “I can’t find anything so I just grabbed as much as I could. He doesn’t have much here. Why is Derek still so pale? When we burned out the stuff that Kate shot him with he looked better than this and that was in his system a lot longer.” 

Leaning his weight on the reception desk, Peter shook his head. “I don’t know. Did you bring one of the guns?” 

“I got them all.” 

“Good...we need to go, now.” 

“We can’t just go, the security cameras, the bodies, we’ll all get arrested.” 

Peter’s eyes flashed red. “We don’t have time for this, more hunters could be on their way here. We need to go.” 

Shaking his head, Stiles shoved the box he was holding into Allison’s arms. “Help them to the car, I’m going to go to the office and check the tapes. I have an idea for the evidence.” 

Ignoring Peter’s protest, she dragged Derek up as he could lean on her and then started to herd Peter towards the front door. “You know he’s right. Let’s go.” 

Peter growled but did start to stumble his way out of the vet clinic. Hoping that Stiles had a good plan and not just one of his, let’s see if this works ideas, she jerked the door open of the car they had brought and pushed Derek inside. She was seconds away from going back inside to check on Stiles when the teen blasted out of the door, a wild look in his eyes. He had Scott thrown over a shoulder and trailing behind him were several dogs. 

“Wha --?” 

“No time. I’ll explain in the car. Let’s go.” 

“Ok, but you better give a really good explanation.” 

“Of course I will!” He said, looking offended as he shoved Scott into the back seat half on top of Peter and Derek. “Sorry, sorry, I know, but he might know things and I couldn’t just leave him there.” This was directed at Peter who was giving Scott the same look one would give a dead mouse your cat brought inside the house. 

They were about a mile away from the clinic when he started talking again. “So I found all the cleaning chemicals and basically just drenched the whole area in them but then I was worried about the fumes so I let all the animals out of their cages and opened the back door for them but the dogs wanted to follow me so that’s why they came out with me. I poured bleach all over the hard drive for the cameras and set them on fire. We just gotta hope Deaton isn’t with the times and doesn’t have anything saved to the cloud.” 

Hands twitching, Peter had reached out and was holding onto one of Stiles’ arms. “Did you just say that you set the clinic on fire?” 

Scent turning sheepish, Stiles shrank into his seat. “Yeeess?” 

The alpha huffed out a pained laugh as he rested his forehead on the seat back. “You, my dear, are both brilliant and reckless. Whe-- stop the car, now.” 

The wheels skidded as Stiles slammed on the brakes at the urgent command. Peter’s eyes were blazing as he snarled at them. “Get out, get out.” Throwing herself out of the car, she heard Stiles do the same at the same moment she saw a flash of light. The rapid gunfire almost deafened her as she flung herself towards the ditch, spinning as she fell to try and see the rest of the pack. 

Peter roared a howl that reverberated down the pavement, flinging Scott towards her as he leapt up and out, drawing the gunfire to himself. Letting Scott’s movement speed her own, she rolled them both down into the ditch. Moments later, Derek and Stiles landed next to her, both of their eyes glowing bright blue. 

Trying to control the rising panic, she turned to Scott and started to shake him roughly. “Wake up, wake up, you useless werewolf.” 

“Derek, let go!” 

Derek had a clawed hand fisted in the back of Stiles’ shirt, keeping the teen from charging back up. The gun fire stopped. They all froze in the sudden silence. 

The thud of feet on pavement gave them a moment's notice before a familiar voice called out. “All clear for the moment, but we need to leave, quickly.” 

Evading Derek and Stiles, she scrambled onto the road. “Dad?”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was editing this chapter to try and push me on writing the next so you guys get it a day early because I was like, 'why not'. I'm also feeling kind of blah about it. Wish me good vibes so I can get the next chapter written this weekend! 
> 
> Oh and I know at least one of you was waiting until we knew what happened to Lydia to keep reading. This mostly resolves that. Like, you still don't know everything but Lydia is in a much safer position than before.

_Her feet were treading on crumbling ash. Wafting smoke swirled around her, tugging and pulling at her one away, then another. The sky was black as soot. In the dark distance there was the only light, a twisting, writhing, column of fire. A thing was growing out of the crackling flames. Wings would burst out, only to be drawn back in by the swirling inferno._

_When she felt the heat of the flames on her cheeks, she forced herself to stop moving. A sickening dread lay heavy in her bones. Whatever was growing was wrong. Death clung to it, dark tendrils of ooze that permeated the roaring twist of fire. It had to be stopped. It couldn’t come out._

_Stretching out a hand, fingers trembling, she tried to find it with her mind._

_**hunger. pain. fear.** _

_“What are you?”_

_**alive.** _

_“What. Are. You?”_

_The flames rushed her, twisting around her fingers to follow her arm to her body. Her skin erupted in pain as the flames licked their way to envelop her._

_**I will rise from the death of you. All of you.** _

Her eyes snapped open. A distant howl was ringing in her ears. The room she was in was pitch black. Gasping out a sob, she turned and fell off the thin cot, landing on the floor with a thud. Trying to sort through the tangled web in her mind, she froze as another howl lit up in her mind. 

Memories came flying back at her. Deaton at her house, in the woods, Gerard with the sword. Another sob was choked out of her. What had he done to her? Where was she? The memories were still distant like she was viewing them from behind frosted glass. Stifling back more sobs, she forced herself to her feet. This wasn’t the time to cry and wail. Those howls had been calling to her, they needed her. 

Fingers ghosting along the walls of the room, it wasn’t long before she felt the outline of a door. The knob was locked and the hinges were on the other side. Stopping herself from kicking at the door like a child, she closed her eyes and forced herself to think. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have useful powers right now? She thought to herself bitterly. If she was a werewolf she could break down this door. 

About to go find the cot to see if anything useful had been left there, she paused. A door was a barrier. A barrier made for holding a human. Mountain ash was a barrier made to hold a wolf. She could break the mountain ash barrier with her mind and hands, could she break a human one? This was magic in her. What good was magic if she couldn’t use it for anything. 

Placing her palms flat against the door, she tried to focus all her will into breaking it. Nothing happened. Refusing to let it get to her, she backed up to shake out her limbs. As soon as this was over she was spending a month with her aunt so the woman could teach her everything about being a banshee. She never wanted to feel this helpless again. 

Many tries later and still nothing. Now sitting on the cot, she remembered that echo of a howl. Cleo had said she and Stiles were connected as part of a pack. She still had no idea what that meant but it did mean something. Stiles had found her before, almost a week ago now at the Hale house. He had said he felt something go wrong with her. Well, he just needed to be able to find her again. 

Crossing her legs, she pulled in a deep breath and tried to think about Stiles. Memories of him as a child flashed to her mind but soon more recent times overtook those. Flashes of Allison, Derek, Peter and Jackson crept into her thoughts until the whole group of them was swirling around. It was like she could see now, how they orbited one another. With small touches and glances. How they were always aware of where each other were. 

“Pack.” She said, whispering the words to the darkness. Each one was a color in her mind, shining brightly against the dark tendrils trying to weave their way in from the outside. She knew without doubt those were Deaton and Gerard reaching for them, trying to clutch at them and destroy them. 

Stiles had found her last time because she had screamed. Taking a deep breath, she reached for that part of her that needed to scream for the death that was coming. The creature in the flame spoke of death for them all. She could scream for that.

Letting that feeling sweep up and through her, she opened her mouth and let it out. The walls trembled and groaned, the door rattled. Like a switch had been flipped, she could see now. The door had cracks, sliding through it, light could be seen through them. Sound was a powerful thing. 

Moving to the center of the room, she brought up her hands and found that feeling again. Her scream flew out from her like a percussion gun, hitting the door so hard the air rippled with the force of it. 

Stepping out on the fallen door, she looked up to see a man staggering down the hall. He stopped when he saw her, eyes wide and mouth gaping. 

“No, no...witch…” 

Energy coursed up through her and she felt power in each of her steps. 

Another man came bursting out of a door that she saw stairs behind. He stared at her. “Her eyes, holy fuck, what’s the matter with her eyes.” 

He pulled out a gun. The panic made her scream again, throwing her hands towards him. The wave hit both of them, flinging them back down the hall where they slammed into a wall.

Upstairs was empty but for the remains of food on the table. Locking and then barricading the basement door, she took stock of her options. A frantic search revealed no phones but several sets of keys. Their phones were probably on them but that meant she had to go back down there. She didn’t know if she could replicate what she had done and the risk of them being awake was too great. As it was, she preferred to leave them behind the locked and barricaded door. 

Taking all the keys, she went outside only to swear at the empty stretch of grass. Her nerves were thrumming with tension and she had never felt more lost as she did right now. None of the options were good ones. She could go back inside and try to get a phone off one of the hunters. She could search the whole house more thoroughly and hope there was a phone or radio in there she could use. Or, she could start walking down the road and hope that no one came down it that was part of this. 

About to let her fear of the forest get the better of her and go on a search for resources, she stiffened at the sound of something coming through the woods. Whirling around, she looked for some sort of weapon. Finding none, she was about to turn and hope she could barricade herself in the house when she heard a familiar voice shout her name. 

“Stiles?” 

“Lydia!” 

Stiles broke through the trees towards. Sobbing, she dove off the porch and flung herself into his arms. “Oh god, oh god, it worked. How did that work?” 

“I don’t know but I heard you and then I just knew how to find you.” 

“I told you not to leave me behind!” Allison’s angry voice came up next to them. The other girl looked wild eyed and a little panicked. 

“There’s no one else here.” 

“It still could have been a trap.” 

“How did you get here?” Lydia interrupted. “Did you run? We need to go. I don’t know when they will be back.” 

“Jackson has the car about a mile through the woods. He parked and we ran the rest of the way.” Stiles answered, gnawing on his lip and giving her an anxious once over. “Do you know where they went or how long ago it was?” 

“No I -- no. They did something to me. Deaton did. I can’t remember how I got here. I have these vague memories of him saying things to me about how useful I was but then nothing. How long has it been?” 

The two teens traded glances and Allison shook her head. Squaring his jaw, Stiles glared at the brunette for a moment before looking back at Lydia. “It’s been five days since the last time someone saw you.” 

The breath left her lungs and she felt dizzy. “What?” 

Stiles’ arm was around her waist again. “Come on. We need to go. It’s not safe here and we don’t know where they are or how many could be with them. We’ll explain what we know later.” 

The trip through the forest was a tense one. She ended up riding on Stiles’ back after the fourth time she stumbled and fell. Both of the teens were silent and tense, they kept glancing around and flinching at every noise. Part of her was afraid to ask where Derek and Peter were. Seeing a nondescript small SUV made her limp with relief. Stiles bundled her into the back seat with a blanket and himself while Allison climbed into the passenger seat. 

Exhaustion hitting her now that she felt safe, she slumped into Stiles and clung to him. “Lydia.” Stiles’ arm nudged at her side. “I know you’re exhausted but you gotta stay awake for a bit before we get you to the hospital and the FBI take over.” 

That woke her up. “FBI?” 

“Yeah, with your disappearance and then Scott’s, the FBI showed up. Also, Gerard escaped from prison yesterday.” 

Panic crawled up her throat and she clutched at Stiles’ arm. A memory of a cruel smile and sword slicing into a student. “It was him, our classmates, oh god, I saw him do that but then Deaton did something to me.” 

“Hey, hey, it’s ok. You’re safe now and we’re getting you somewhere safer. My dad thinks he’ll have to stop now with so much law enforcement here.” 

Shaking her head, she tried to push herself to sit up. “No, no, he won’t stop. He wants something, he’s trying to make something or call something. It’s in flames. I keep having these dreams and he almost succeeded the night of my birthday but it failed...I just can’t remember the details.” Frustrated, she hit her fist on the window. 

“Just this is helpful. Ok? Shit. You’ll just have to tell them that they drugged you, ok?” 

“How are we going to explain how we found her though?” Jackson asked from where he’d been listening in from the driver’s seat. 

“I can say I panicked and I called you. That I got free and called you with one of their phones. You found it the rest of the way from my description, let’s say I walked out.” 

Grimacing, Stiles ran a hand through his hair. “That’ll have to work. I don’t know what else to say other than luck. They’ll be suspicious though.” 

Allison snorted. “They are already suspicious. They know we aren’t telling them everything from being attacked on the road. Even with my dad backing up our story they don’t believe us.” 

“Your dad?” 

Huffing, Allison turned back to look at the road and explained how her father found out that Gerard and Victoria had a plan to kill the Stilinskis, Hales and her. He tried to get away from them but had been found out and restrained. He’d gotten away after Gerard had been arrested and the night that apparently the pack had been attacked at Deaton’s vet practice. 

Having told the FBI they had been attacked on the road to explain the bodies and the crashed cars, the feds were suspicious about the deaths at the vet clinic but had been unable to tie it to them. The FBI had come in two days after that when Scott had gone missing on the same day Gerard escaped the county jail. 

“Oh and Peter’s been poisoned and is slowly dying but we have no idea what poisoned him or how to stop it.” Stiles added at the end of the story. Yelping, she smacked him in the arm. 

“Next time lead with that! Oh my god, Stiles…” 

Flinching, he turned away from her. “Just..don’t...I don’t know how I am other than pissed off and wanting to kill Gerard and Deaton. And maybe Scott, though he claimed he didn’t remember anything either. He said he didn’t remember a thing since the night of the lacrosse game that I had gotten bitten.” 

“What?” She stared at them all in shock. “And you believed him?” 

“He wasn’t lying...and well, now we know Deaton can do something with memories. It’s still insane though, all that time. Honestly, I don’t know what to really think about all of it. Derek says he’s not lying but still, just because he doesn’t remember doesn’t mean he didn’t do that shit or say those things. Deaton can’t have been controlling him completely. It’s just a mess and I can’t think about it right now because of Peter -- well…” 

“It also doesn’t help that the next day McCall went missing too.” Jackson added, voice dark. 

Shuddering, she sank into the seat and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry about it all. Fuck, I’m glad I got away. I’m so glad you found me.” 

“You’re part of my pack, Lydia. I think I’d always be able to find you.” 

Feeling wetness on her cheeks, she brushed at the tears and looked away. Reaching out to grab his hand, she said, “I felt you. All of you. I think I might be starting to understand what you mean when you say pack. I know I’m not very good at this...I don’t trust well and I’m sorry.” 

Allison, who had been twisting around to look at them winced. “I’m sorry too. I let my pride and envy get the better of me and didn’t stop and think about any of this from your perspective. We -- well, the pack, we need everyone right now. We’re losing right now. Peter is hurt and…” She trailed off as Stiles had gone rigid at the mention of Peter. “I want to help. I want to stop Gerard and Deaton. They are killing people and if I can help then I want to.” 

Allison met her gaze for a long moment before nodding and swinging to face the road again. “Good.” 

The arrival at the hospital was more chaotic than they had predicted and she got swept away almost immediately. All the fear and panic she had been holding back burst out at that point in an embarrassing display of hysterical sobbing. The only benefit of the display was that she was able to get away with telling the deputy on scene the bare minimum of details. 

In the end they got her calmed down and hooked up to an IV while they finished running their tests. Admitting that she didn’t know what had been done to her almost caused another breakdown and it was only because the nurse who was running through the details with her looked a step away from a breakdown as well that kept her own at bay. 

To her shock, her mom showed up less than an hour of her arrival. This almost derailed her plans as she had no intention of returning to her home until she knew both Gerard and Deaton were either dead or locked up but her mother also was of the opinion that a return home would be a disaster. It was kind of nice, to just let herself sink back and let her mother take over bullying the hospital staff, the hapless deputy, and the FBI agent. 

Determined to not let herself fall asleep, she had to throw a fit when they wanted to give her sleep medication. In the end, she was finally left alone with her mother which was not the best case scenario but better than a nurse or law enforcement. That it was Jackson who knocked on the door was both not a surprise and a disappointment. Biting back a hurtful comment, she clamped onto the scratchy hospital blankets with both hands.

Jackson, while he meant well, was not who she wanted to see right now nor was he suited to this. He was suited to charm though, was the bitter thought that went through her head as he smiled and complemented her mother. Watching the two of them talk, a wave of loneliness crashed over her so hard, she felt like she was drowning for a moment. Yes, they had come for her but none of them were really hers, were they? Stiles had Peter. Jackson had never truly been hers. Derek and Allison didn’t like her. 

Jackson’s arm circling her shoulders made her jump. “Shit, sorry…” He said, starting to move away. Reaching out in panic, she grabbed his hand. 

“No, no, stay, please. You just startled me.” 

Sitting back on the small bed with her, he pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry Lyds. I really failed you.” 

She struggled for a moment to hold herself together before realizing that it really didn’t matter anymore. She’d been kidnapped, someone had been in her head, and who knows what else had been done to her. Burrowing into Jackson’s warmth, she clung to him and let go and sobbed. 

At some point she must have drifted off because an argument woke her up. “Absolutely not, my daughter has been through enough today, you will leave her alone.” 

“Ma’am, more teenagers are missing and your daughter could have vital information --” 

“No. Get out.” 

“Mom.” Struggling out of the haze of sleep, she used Jackson to push herself up. “Mom, it’s ok. Who’s missing?” An unfamiliar man was standing just inside the room, behind him was a deputy she recognized vaguely. 

“You need to rest, Lydia.” 

Shaking her head, she sat up fully. “No, no, not if they are doing this with more people. Who’s missing. Jackson?” The jock shook his head as the man took the distraction to push farther into the room. 

“I’m afraid I can’t give you any names of the suspected missing at the moment and I know you already gave your statement to the sheriff station but there might be tiny details that can help us.” 

Clinging at Jackson’s hand, she nodded. “I don’t remember much, I remember who though, I know it was Gerard Argent and Alan Deaton.” 

Moving even closer the agent pulled out a notepad. “Let’s start with the last clear memory you do have.” 

Mentally berating herself for not taking any time between the initial conversations and now to work on her story, she relied on her trembling self to distract the agent as she started to speak. Focusing on what she remembered from Deaton coming to her house and mixing that together with memories of Gerard. In reality, the time she had been in that house was almost a complete blur so there were only a few details that she could tell him. 

When he pushed as to how she had contacted Stiles and where the phone was now, she let herself break down again. Sobbing out that she didn’t remember, she just remembered finding, using it, then hearing a noise and running. It seemed to work as the agent backed off that topic, though the look he gave her wasn’t the most promising. 

“Did you find the house? Were any of the others there? I didn’t know or I would have looked but I was just so scared, I had to get away, I’m sorry I didn’t look.” 

Before the agent could respond to that, her mother had rushed back over to her side. “No darling, no one thinks you should have done that. Getting away was the right thing to do.” 

Putting his notebook away, the man gave her what was probably supposed to be a warm smile. “As your mother said, Miss, you did the right thing. Yes, we found the house but no evidence of anyone else being there and the two men you mentioned were gone.” 

It wasn’t long after this that the Agent (if she wasn’t so tired she’d ask for his name) left. Her mother bustled out after him to go ‘check in with the doctor’, which she knew was code for that the woman had hit the limit of comfort she was able to give. Along with Jackson, she turned towards him, feeling uncertain and very small. 

“You don’t have to stay.” Even as she said the words, she wished that she could unsay them. The thought of being left alone in this room with nothing but her thoughts terrified her. 

Turning towards her, Jackson had a look on his face that she had seen only a few times before. The jock looked raw and a bit broken. It was the same look he’d had on his face when he’d told her he was adopted. 

“I know, but Lyds, I --” Moving over to the window, he ran a hand through his hair, the other hand clenched as a fist at his side. “I’m an asshole and an idiot. I think we got so stuck in needing to be perfect that I missed the fact that you’re my best friend. Even Danny doesn’t know me as well as you do. And gods, I was so scared when we realized you were missing. I don’t know if I’ve ever been that scared before. So yeah, I do have to stay, because the idea that if I left and something happened to you...I couldn’t live with myself.” 

“You’re going to make me cry again.” She said, voice accusing but opening her arms towards him. “You were my best friend too, you idiot. Come here and hug me then tell me where the others are and how we can get to them.” 

Pulling her in a tight embrace, he gave a stuttered sob into her shoulder. “Apparently Peter had put together a ‘safe’ house in town, they are all there right now.” 

“What’s wrong with the other house?” 

“They were worried that even with the security that the hunters would attack because it’s so remote. In town it’s harder for a large enough group to sneak through without law enforcement knowing.” 

“Smart.” 

“Peter might be an asshole but he’s a smart asshole.” 

Pulling out of the hug, she forced herself to focus. Later would be when she could break down and start to process everything. Now they needed to stay focused and on task. The danger was still out there and Peter was injured. Her mother chose that moment to flutter back into the room, going on about hotel rooms in Redding and private security. 

Giving her a half smile, Jackson intercepted her mom and in a matter of minutes was able to convince the woman to let Lydia go home with him. If she wasn’t so grateful to not have a fight, she might have been depressed at how easy it was for her mother to be convinced to not worry about her. She had stopped fighting for her mother’s attention long ago. 

It wasn’t long until she was following Jackson to a side door of the hospital. A fresh wave of fear gripped her as they reached the door to the outside. Throat dry, she paused by the wall, berating herself for showing any weakness. Jackson had gone to bring the car around, leaving her to feel vulnerable and alone. 

“Lydia.” A familiar voice startled her out of the rising panic. Confused, she saw Derek Hale standing a couple feet away. The man looked smaller than normal, hunched over in a way that spoke to his own vulnerability. 

“Wha --” 

“I’ve been shadowing you both. Just in case.” 

A warm feeling sank into her at his words and she tried her best to smile at him. “Oh. I -- good, that helps. I’m sorry.” 

Shaking his head, Derek moved closer, his body blocking most of her view of the people in the reception area. A deeper feeling of safety settled into her. Derek paused, hand hovering almost as if he wanted to touch her but something held him back. Unsure of how to respond, she stayed still herself, moving her eyes back to the doorway to look for Jackson. 

“I’ll hear him when he gets here.” 

Flushing, she looked back at the man. “Oh, right. Sorry.” 

He shook his head, scowling. “You shouldn’t be sorry.” Some of his stiffness relaxed and his head half cocked towards the door. “There he is now. Walk out right behind me.” Moving off, his fingers brushed over her arm with a featherlight touch that was as comforting as it was confusing. She had been so sure this man hated her. Why was he showing her this care? 

Jackson had the same nondescript vehicle as earlier and Derek had them inside it before the jock had pulled to a full stop. “Go.” The older man said, barking the word out as he shuffled them both into the back seat. 

“I’m going, geez.” 

The trip was tense and quiet. Both Jackson and Derek were sweeping every car with suspicion. The route Jackson took was circular and confusing. She almost didn’t know where they were when they finally pulled into a two car garage next to a run down looking house. As the garage door shut, she looked at them in disbelief. 

“Peter Hale is hiding out here?” 

“That’s exactly why he is.” Derek said, herding her out of the car and into the house. “If you’re surprised then the hunters should be too.” 

“And Alan Deaton has always thought of me as nothing but an arrogant boy, too caught up in the pleasures of the world to care about anything or anyone else.” 

Peter was standing by the entry to a hallway, gazing at her with sharp eyes. There was a challenge in his gaze, even as he leaned against the wall with shaking hands. Stiles had a hand on the alpha’s back, eyes flitting between the two of them and mouth flattened in a hard line. She felt the weight of this moment. The itching crawl of what she was coming to realize was her magic, was rising up through her body. 

Stepping towards him, she got close enough to touch before pausing. “Alpha Hale. I know things are precarious right now and this is hard for me, trusting anyone like this. My Aunt Hal explained a bit to me about what it means for a banshee to submit to an alpha. I would be trusting you and your pack with my mind and sanity. I know I’ve been struggling with what that means, to be part of a pack. I know it’s more than just a promise, that the bond is stronger than that. So I need to know. Am I just a collector piece to you? Do you just want the banshee with powers or do you want to have me, Lydia, the person. Because they come together.” 

Peter’s nostrils flared as he took her scent in. A small smile played at his lips. “That’s a hard question to answer, which I’m sure you are aware. But to distill it down to the basics, I want you in my pack because Stiles does. Stiles trusts you, Lydia, the person, not the banshee. That is enough for me.” 

“We have that in common. Then, Alpha Hale, I would like to join your pack.” Moving a step closer to him, she bared her neck. It took all her will to not flinch away as he lowered his face to press fanged teeth lightly into her skin. Something surged up through her, winding up and around Peter. A click in her mind and she gasped at the feeling. Strings sprung up in her vision, circling out from Peter to and through every pack member. They were all tangled and woven together, winding in, out and between all of them. 

Trembling, she ran a finger over one of the strings that spun towards Peter and then to Stiles. “It’s beautiful.” 

Peter’s hand rested on top of her own, catching his gaze, she stilled at the look of longing on his face. “So you can see them. I wondered…” 

“See what? What can she see?” 

Distracted by Stiles and Peter, the threads faded into dim outlines. Looking at her friend, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “I can see them. The bonds between the pack, between all of us. It’s amazing.” 

“So cool, hey, why can’t we see that? Is it because we’re wolves and not banshees? Or is it magic? If I could do magic could I see them?” 

Eyes crinkling, Peter leaned over to wrap an arm around Stiles, leaning heavily into him. “It’s different for wolves, sweetheart, we can feel one another through our senses in a way others can’t. It would be different for every magic user in how they would sense and know the pack bonds.” 

Stiles melted into the alpha’s embrace, pressing his nose against Peter’s forehead. “The strings make sense then.” 

Crossing her arms and pushing down the small trickle of jealousy, she said. “Oh?” 

“Banshee are predictors of death and a lot of other ideas of death come with strings connected to people. Like the fates in Greek myth cutting strings.” Stiles said, pulling away from Peter to reach out with an arm towards her. Letting herself be pulled into the hug, she had to gulp down the tears that wanted to come out. This all felt so good. Leaning into Stiles’ warmth, she frowned and pulled back to look at Peter. 

“You don’t feel right. Is that the poison Stiles mentioned.” 

The alpha grimaced, hand tightening around Stiles’ waist. “Most likely.” 

There was a tug and a trickle of fear that wasn’t her. Wide eyed she looked down at the string connecting her and Stiles. “That’s going to take some getting used to.” 

Now that she could feel him, Peter’s smile had dark edges around it. The alpha was in pain and it showed. “Just puts you on an even playing field with the rest of us.” 

Noise made them all turn to see Chris Argent walk into the room, freezing when he saw all of them together. Allison pushed off the wall she had been leaning on to move towards her father. “Dad, what’s wrong?” 

The hunter flinched, rubbing a hand over his face. “The police found more bodies. Three more people burned and left in the woods.” 

A piece of a memory trickled through her mind. “They are still hiding it from me.” 

“Who, Deaton?” Peter’s gaze had sharpened again and she nodded. “Hmm… it’s not surprising that he did that. They must have started after the Stilinski house burned down. Stiles said you can’t remember a lot of what happened.” 

“Hardly any of it.” 

“There is a way I might be able to help with that. It’s dangerous, especially since I’m weakened right now.” 

Stiffening her spine, she met his gaze. “We need to break whatever hold that psychopath has on me. We need to know what they want from me and what they are hiding. Do whatever you need to do.” 

The alpha nodded, eyes not leaving her face. “Alright, but not right now. Christopher, any luck with the poison options?” 

The hunter shook his head, scowling at the narrowed eyes Peter gave him. “I’m not lying, Hale. I said I would help you because it helps Allison and I meant it. I don’t want my daughter without a strong alpha.” 

“Even if you don’t like the alpha?” Stiles asked, a challenge in his voice. Chris clenched his jaw, shooting the teen an irritated look. 

“I am not that petty. I gave my word to all of you and that is enough.” 

Feeling the low level anger rising from the pack members, Lydia jumped in before the argument could be continued. “Can we return to the retrieval of my memories? Maybe that will get us some answers on what to do next.” 

It took almost another hour for everyone to get calmed down enough to get situated for the ritual. She was sitting on the floor, Peter on the couch behind her with his fingers on her neck. Stiles was half on the couch, half not, trying to hold onto both of them at once in his anxiety. His anxiety was not helping hers but she didn’t have the heart to snap at him. 

“Are you ready?” Peter’s voice sounded forced, she could feel his exhaustion through their bond now and it wasn’t helping reassure her. 

“No, but we need to do it regardless.” 

Steeling herself, she reached out to clutch at one of Stiles’ hands. A pricking feeling in the back of her neck was all the warning she got before the room around her dissolved into white.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY I did it! I got a chapter out to you while it was still the weekend (in my time that is). OOF, this week was a terrible week for me in my personal life, so sorry if this chapter has typos and mistakes. I tried to edit and re-read as much as I could on my own but it probably still has issues. 
> 
> But, here you go, I have not yet failed to get a chapter out a week. :)

Biting at a fingernail, Stiles whirled back around in the tight loop he’d been making of the room everyone was crowded into. Back and forth. Back and forth. He could tell that he was driving Jackson and Argent nuts but they hadn’t moved past irritated glances. It had been fifteen minutes since Peter had stuck his claws in the back of Lydia’s neck but it felt like hours. 

Derek was against the wall, behind Peter’s back, with arms folded. The beta’s shining blue eyes had yet to leave the hunter’s hunched figure at the battered kitchen table. Allison was hovering in between them. If he wasn’t so caught up in his terror over Peter, he would have spared more time and thought for her. He knew that things between her and Argent were stressed. There had been several fraught conversations between father and daughter over the last five days. They had reached an uneasy truce for the moment. Argent swearing he was there to help his daughter, regardless of his feelings about werewolves. 

The sharp tang of blood hit his tongue. Glaring down at his thumb, he watched in detachment as the skin sewed itself back together. There had been a time when watching that had excited him. Now, it just served as another reminder of how fucked up his life had become. Not that he’d trade it. Glancing over at Peter, he felt his heart stutter. No, he wouldn’t go back, even if he could. Bringing his thumb back up to his teeth, he squawked as Derek’s hand wrapped around it to tug it away. 

“Peter knows what he’s doing.” 

“I know that.” 

“Then stop wearing a hole in the carpet and dripping blood everywhere.” 

Bristling, he tried to tug his hand back but Derek had an iron grip on it. “But has Peter done this before when he was dying from poisoning? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Hey!” The beta had let his hand go, to then wrap a thick arm around his neck to tug him into Derek’s chest. The steady thump of Derek’s heartbeat soothed him and bit by bit, he felt something uncoil inside him. 

“I’m scared.” 

Derek’s other arm wrapped around his back and held him tighter. Warmth hit his back as Allison pressed into him from behind. Squeezing his eyes shut in a failed attempt to ward off tears, he tried to ground himself in the scents of his pack. 

A gasp from Lydia made the three of them startle apart. Rushing to Peter’s side, he grabbed the alpha’s arm as the wolf staggered away from Lydia. Torn for a moment between his mate and his friend, his hand spasmed on Peter’s arm as Lydia toppled forward. Derek caught her up before she could hit the ground and moved to set her down on the couch. 

Peter sagged into him, with rasping breaths that made Stiles’ worry spike. Dragging the alpha over to one of the large arm chairs, he managed to get them to make a somewhat controlled tumble into the chair together. Peter’s arms wrapped around him and a cold nose was pressed into his neck. 

Lydia had managed to sit up but still looked pale and shaky. The room seemed almost frozen in the silence that had come over them. Peter’s harsh breaths stood out all the more in his ears as the pack continued to remain mute. A strange scent filtered through the room. Flaring his nostrils, he realized that it smelled like smoke and embers. 

It was Argent who broke the tension, hand slapping against the table. It made them all twitch and Peter’s claws tug through his hoodie to prick at his skin. 

“Well?” 

“Give them a moment.” Derek was glaring at the hunter, eyes bright blue again. 

“We don’t have time for that.” 

“Dad…” 

“Gerard was concerned about being sent to prison or arrested. When I spoke to him he seemed just as calm and as in control as he always does. We need to know what Lydia knows.” 

“One minute won’t kill anyone.” Stiles said, not able to help himself from snapping out the words. Peter’s grip wasn’t as tight as it should be. Terror was crawling under his skin and the panic was trying to bubble up through his throat. He couldn’t do this. It was too much. 

“It could and you know that.” The hunter’s words were harsh, the tone harsher. Flinching, Stiles pressed his face into Peter’s hair to hide for just a little bit. 

“It’s a phoenix.” 

Eyes snapping open, he almost jerked off the couch at Lydia’s voice. “What?” 

Trembling, she pulled herself up to sit and meet his gaze. “They are making a phoenix. It’s what Peter called it in my head.” 

Before he could ask what that meant, the chair Argent had been sitting on went tumbling to the floor. The man stood and slammed a hand fist into the wall. 

“Dad!” 

Stumbling backwards, the man ran a hand over his face. “Fuck. Fuck him.” 

“Dad, what is it? I don’t understand. A phoenix is the bird from Harry Potter, right? The one that died and was reborn?” 

Derek shook his head, eyes never leaving the hunter’s face. “It’s more than that. More complicated. Legends say that phoenix’s emerge from great tragedy and slaughter. Fire calls them and death. They can be good or bad, it just depends.” 

“Depends on what?” Jackson had moved to sit beside Lydia, placing a possessive arm around the girls’ shoulders. 

“How they are brought forth.” Argent said, rubbing a hand over his face. “And what kind of magic is used. Calling one through murder…” 

“It’s bad.” Lydia said, her voice trembling, “it’s very bad. He wants to bind it to him, have that power for himself. Bring back Kate and keep killing everyone he can...” 

Stiles’ throat was dry and he could feel his arms spasm around Peter. “Did it work with all the memories then? You remember Deaton speaking to you?” 

Lydia looked up at him and nodded. Silent tears were falling down her face. It was in that moment that he knew with absolute certainty that if he got the chance, he was going to kill Alan Deaton. 

“Something went wrong. It was supposed to happen at the full moon, the worm moon. But something went wrong and it didn’t work. They are gathering power again.” Lydia leaned forward to place her head in her hands. “I was there. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t do anything. I just watched them die.” 

Jackson made a wounded noise and wrapped around her back. He stood up and started pacing again. The burning scent was growing stronger and the room felt too warm. He couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from. Snarling, he spun around, his eyes must have flashed blue because Argent made a choking noise and his hand jerked to his hip where a gun would have rested. Derek turned and snarled, his own eyes blazing. 

“Derek, dad…” Allison pushed in between them as the beta started to move across the room towards the hunter. “We can’t fight between us right now. I know there is history and bad blood and I know this goes against everyone you’ve been taught but dad, you need to stop. Stop flinching at my pack. They aren’t the ones who murdered children in a burning house. They aren’t the ones killing teenagers to create a dark creature. Maybe you should think about all that and consider that just maybe Stiles has blue eyes because one of those psychopaths you call friends tried to kill him.” 

It made the hunter flinch back before slumping into one of the kitchen chairs. Running a hand over his face, Argent looked back up at Allison. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Yes, yes, you’re so sorry.” Peter said, lurching up out of the chair with a growl. “You’re sorry now because your life went to shit and that what you did turned your daughter against you. Luckily I don’t really care why you choose to help us. However, you threaten my mate like that again and I don’t care if you’re Allison’s father. Understood?” 

“Understood.” The hunter said, eyes fixed on the table in front of him. 

“Good.” Pausing, Peter swayed on his feet. Stiles lurched forward to wrap an arm back around the wolf’s waist. Leaning into the offered support, Peter heaved a sigh, running a hand over his face. “I can reach out to my contacts and ask if any of them have heard of conjuring a phoenix this way and if they know a way to stop it. It is possible the druidic council will step in...but I doubt it would be in time. They tend to react to things much slower than we would like as they want to make sure of all the facts first.” 

“Yes, let’s wait for more dead bodies. Fuck them.” Stiles felt too warm and there was an itching feeling at the back of his neck. Something was wrong. “What about the tests your contacts were doing on your blood, to determine the poison?” 

“They haven’t found anything.” 

“Fuck.” He whirled back around, tightening his hands into fists and letting his claws dig into his palms. Argent was growing more tense and the man’s loaded gaze made him want to scream. 

“Alright, I think we are all exhausted. Lydia, I am in your debt for your willingness to risk yourself for my pack.” 

The crawling sense that something was wrong wouldn’t leave him. He moved in a circuit around the room, checking every corner and trying to figure out where that smell was coming from. 

“Our pack.” Lydia stood up from the couch, wiping away at the tears on her cheeks. “Our pack, you can’t get rid of me now.” 

Nothing. Nothing was wrong or actually on fire. The scent would grow fainter the further away from the center of the room he got. 

“Our pack, thank you. Well, I for one need some rest after that exercise. Let’s take some time to rest and reconvene to discuss plans in a couple hours. Stiles, help me to my room, please.” 

Not able to ignore Peter when the alpha looked so exhausted, Stiles made his way over to Peter’s side and helped them make their way through the hall and into the bedroom Peter had claimed. Maybe he was just being paranoid with the scent. Fire had been so prevalent since the night his house had burned down that maybe he was starting to smell it in his head. 

He’d given up on any pretense that he and Peter slept separate with the move to the new location. Luckily, his dad had barely been present so he hadn’t had to see if the earlier conversation about the situation would hold up. 

Hating how he could smell the sickness on his mate, he whined low in his throat as they collapsed onto the bed. Peter nuzzled into his neck, fanning hot breath over his face. 

“I’m alright, sweetheart, that just took a lot out of me.” 

“You don’t have a little to give, Peter…” 

“I know, I know, but sweetheart, I need you to focus for me. I know you’re upset and angry but you need to stay in control.” 

“Everything is going so wrong. Lydia is hurt, you’re dy--hurt, and Argent is here and I can’t stand him.” 

Peter brushed gentle hands over his face and kissed softly. “I know and this isn’t fair on you, but I need you to be strong while I am not. I need you to be strong for our pack. You’re the alpha’s mate, Stiles, and the pack needs you not to falter right now.” 

Resting his forehead against Peter’s, he whined low in his throat. He knew his mate was right, he couldn’t let Argent get to him, he couldn’t let himself lose control. Pressing his face into Peter’s hair, he clung harder to the alpha. The fear of losing Peter had only grown worse as the days went on without any idea of a cure for the poison that was ravaging his mate’s body. 

“I want to kill him. Deaton. I want to rip him to pieces.” 

“Good. If you get a chance you do just that, sweetheart. You do just that.” 

“My dad would say I shouldn’t.” 

Gripping the back of his neck, Peter pulled him back so their eyes could meet. “Your father still doesn’t understand our world yet. He doesn’t understand that this sort of attack against the alpha cannot be punished by human law. Our people have been living in the shadows with our laws and rules for centuries. Our existence is a delicate balance. It’s why what Kate did was so horrific. She opened up our world to the mundane, she crossed a line and made us all vulnerable.” 

“I’m still trying to understand, I know I’m not --” 

“You are magnificent, my magnificent mate. You have taken to being a wolf in a beautiful way, leaning into your instincts and accepting this world so well. This is a fucked up situation, me biting Scott, that I was mostly feral and killing in a way that drew attention to us means that so many of the resources that I would normally have in a situation like this are standing back and watching. They won’t interfere to help or hinder.” 

“That’s not fair, it wasn’t your fault. It was Kate’s fault.” 

“Whose fault it was doesn’t matter. It was my actions and it is up to me and my pack to fix it. If I can fix it without causing further damage then doors will be open to me again.” 

“It’s not fair.” 

“Life isn’t fair, sweetheart, anyone who says different is selling something.” 

Pulling back further, he gaped at the alpha. “Did you just seriously quote Princess Bride to me during this heavy and emotional conversation? I am so in love with you.” 

Smirking, Peter captured his lips into a deeper kiss. Rolling him on his back and running hands down his sides. “I love you too, Stiles, so much. You saved me, you saved my sanity and my pack. I have such faith in you.” 

Dizzy with the surge of emotions flooding through his system, he whined and pressed upward to seek more contact. Peter plundered his mouth, licking his way inside, before moving to kiss down his neck. Arching up into the touch, he moaned as the alpha bit down and sucked, sending sparks of pleasure racing through his body. 

The door banged open. Not letting him go, Peter turned, “what?” 

“The sheriff is here, Scott’s been found and Victoria has been arrested, he wants to see Stiles.” 

Dragging a hand across his face, he struggled to get out of Peter’s octopus hold. The alpha growled, arms tightening. “I have lost too much of your interest to that failure of a werewolf. Stay in bed.” 

“Ugg, I know, I don’t want to get up either but I also really don’t want a fight with dad again today and Scott might have said something important.” 

Grumbling, Peter rolled off of him and let him scramble off the bed and start walking out of the door. Looking back, he waved his hands in the air. “You coming? Maybe you should rest though, you look super pale.” 

Rolling his eyes and grimacing, Peter heaved himself up, holding out a hand towards Stiles. “If you help me, sweetheart.” 

“You two are revolting.” 

“Thanks, didn’t ask you sourwolf.” 

“Idiot.” 

“Whatever, dude.” 

Helping Peter up, he willed down his excited dick. The last thing he needed was to be sporting a boner when he walked into the same room as his dad. Sighing, he forced himself to think about Lydia and Deaton. Well, the distraction had been nice while it lasted. 

His dad was sitting at the kitchen table, holding a cup of coffee and engaged in a stare off with Argent. The two men would have normally gotten along but the added angst of Argent’s anti-werewolf bullshit had made the interactions fraught with tension. It also didn’t help that Allison had gone to his dad a few times for hugs or comfort and each time the scent of Argent’s jealousy had been obvious. 

“Hey pops. What’s up with Scott?” 

“The same name under which the house that Lydia was held in had also purchased another property. The FBI did a raid and found Scott in the basement. He’s shaken up, confused, claims he doesn’t remember anything.” 

Peter sat heavily down in one of the chairs. “It’s possible. It is what he said after the vet clinic fiasco.” 

“Luckily his mom was able to give him a clean enough bill of health that he was kept out of the hospital. He’s at home now, with a police presence at all times.” 

“And Victoria?” Peter said, eyes now fixed on Argent’s face. 

Grimacing, the sheriff set the coffee cup down. “Yes, that’s part of why I’m here. She was found at the house, she’s at the station in holding right now, refusing to cooperate. Her lawyer is on his way.” 

Allison and Argent had both stiffened at the mention of Victoria. Worried for Allison, he turned to go to her but Derek was already there with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Leaning back into his seat, the sheriff ran a hand over his face. 

“The only request she is making is to speak to Allison.” 

“What?” Allison had gone paler and Derek let out a small snarl. 

“The agents know that I’m aware of where you all have been staying so asked me to bring you in.” 

“I’ve already given my statement. So has dad. Why do they care again?” 

“They are hoping to get something out of her. Students are still missing. Anxiety is high and everyone is terrified we are about to find seven more dead bodies. They’ll grasp at any straw they can find.” 

Allison wiped tears off her face. “If you think it will help, I’ll go. She said nothing about dad?” 

“No, but speaking of...Argent, I am supposed to bring you in again. They have another agent in and he wants to go over your story again.” 

Shoulders drooping, the hunter nodded. “Alright. Shall we go now?” At the affirmative reply, the man got up and moved towards the door. 

Feeling anxious, Stiles turned to Allison. “Be careful, ok? And if she starts spewing garbage just leave, ok? You don’t have to sit there and let her hurt you.” 

She gave him a shaky smile and reached out for a hug. “Ok, you be careful too.” 

“Who, me?” He said, slapping a hand against his chest. 

“Yes, you. I know you’re going to go try to talk with Scott.” 

“Whyever would you say that? Such accusations.” 

“Uh, huh.” Giving him one last unimpressed look, she turned towards the door. 

His dad was frowning at him. “I don’t like the idea of you going over to the McCalls alone.” 

“It’ll be fine, dad, Derek will go with me.” 

“And me.” 

Whirling around, he felt his protective instincts flare. “Lydia, no.” 

“Yes. I won’t let you sideline me just because I went through a terrible experience. Besides, Scott is more likely to talk to me than you.” 

“She’s right. Especially after what you said about you and Allison at the vet clinic.” Peter added with a grimace. 

“But, Lyds, you’re not well yet.” 

Bristling, she stood up and glared at him. “I’m fine. Don’t you dare try to coddle me. I can do this. I need to do this.” 

Running a hand through his hair, he felt himself deflate. “Ok, ok, you’re right. He probably won’t talk to me. We just don’t know how badly they want you and how far they will go to get you back. Dad, who’s the deputy outside the McCall’s right now?” 

“Luke and Matt.” 

“Ok, that’s good. They both know about everything. I’ll give them a heads up. Jackson, you’ll stay here with Peter.” 

“Hey, no I--” 

“Yes. No one should be alone right now. If someone comes for Peter here, your job is to gather as much intell as you can and hide. We can’t have something happen again where we know nothing about what did happen.” 

Feeling a grim determination settle over himself, he looked back at Allison. He hated her going to the station without a pack member with her but logically she should be safest of them all. She nodded at him before turning to walk out the door. His dad didn’t look pleased but didn’t argue again, just gave him a hug before leaving. 

Turning back to the room, he took a deep breath. This was so hard but he knew that he needed to stay focused on the next thing. He couldn’t let his fears and terror about all the possible failures get to him. 

“Alright, Peter, any objections to the plans?” 

“I would prefer to come with you but seeing as that I can’t stand on my own currently, I agree with your division of labor.” The alpha had a sour look on his face and Stiles could feel the agitation coming off his mate. It took a lot of willpower not to grab Peter and drag him back into the room to finish what they had started earlier. 

“Ok then. Derek?” 

The beta shook his head and went over to grab at his leather jacket. “Let’s get this over with.” 

Shaking his head as if to dispel the thoughts promising nothing but disaster if he left Peter alone, he offered a hand out to Lydia. Her hand was hot, hotter than he thought it should be. Frowning, he opened his mouth to comment when Derek cuffed him over the head. Snapping his jaw shut, he spun around the swipe at the beta. He missed, of course and was left to scurry after the other werewolf, leaving Lydia to follow them into the garage. 

The drive to Scott’s house was done in silence. Lydia had sagged against the window of the passenger seat upon getting in and didn’t move the whole drive. Derek was a tense ball, eyes darting about, trying to take in every possible threat. He breathed a sigh of relief when they entered the street the McCall house was on. 

Parking behind the patrol car, he scrambled out to go check in with Luke. The deputy already had the window down and gave him a narrowed eyed look. “I’m not sure I approve of sending a kid to do an adult’s duty.” 

Making a face back at the deputy, he threw his arms up in the air. “Hey, I’m just here to check on my friend after his traumatic kidnapping.” 

“Uh huh.” 

“I am shocked and appalled at your lack of belief in me. Shocked, totally shocked.” 

“Laying it on a bit thick, there.” Matt said, leaning over Luke to toss something at him. Fumbling the catch, he frowned at the black cylinder. 

“What’s this?” 

“Just a little something my nana cooked up. I called her up not long after the barn to check in and asked if all the stories she told me as a kid were true. She said yes and when I told her what was going on, she sent this up with some other things. The other stuff was for me but she said to give this to the alpha.” 

Turning the cylinder over in his hands, he shook it and got more confused at the rattling hiss sound. “Your nana sent Peter a rain stick?” 

Matt shrugged. “She said it shows the truth of things. I asked her what that meant and she told me to mind my business. In my family you do what nana says and leave it at that.” 

“Your nana is annoyingly unhelpful.” 

“Don’t I know it.” 

Resisting the urge to chuck the stick back at Matt’s head, he tried to pass it to Derek instead. The beta gave him a look that was completely uncalled for. Giving that idea up, he tossed it from hand to hand while assessing the look of the McCall house. 

“Well, tell your nana thanks, I guess. If she ever feels like being actually helpful, let me know.” 

“I still don’t like it.” Luke said, grumbling the words while slouching down in his seat. 

“Enough talking. Let’s go.” 

“Chill, sourwolf. Just getting the lay of the land.” A growl was the response to this. Realizing that Derek was two more words away from a mutiny, he saluted both deputies and went trudging up the walk to the McCall front door. 

The door opened before he had finished getting up the walk. Scott looked like he was barely holding back a shift. The teen’s eyes were a pale yellow and there were dark shadows under his eyes. The smell coming off his former best friend was almost rancid. It made him reel back, startled at the changes he was seeing. 

Derek pushed in front of him, eyes bright blue and with a deep growl. Scott staggered back as if he had been struck and whimpered, shifting his head to the side to show his throat to Derek. Derek kept moving to push his way through the door and caught Scott up by the back of the neck to haul the teen deeper into the house. Sharing a wide eyed look with Lydia, Stiles scrambled to follow. 

“What’s wrong with him? He feels like he’s dying.” Lydia’s voice sounded off, like she was having trouble speaking. Shooting her a concerned look, his nostrils flared, the burning smell was strong again. 

“He’s going full omega, without a pack he’s lost and going feral.” Derek had dropped Scott who was shaking his head and rubbing at his eyes. 

“This is all your fault!” Scott said, spitting out the words. 

“What is going on?” Melissa entered the room, hands on her hips as she glared around at all of them. 

“Oh hey, Melissa, we are, um, checking in on Scott.” 

“And where has your concern been for the past two months, Stiles? Scott says you dropped him and chased after Allison. Not exactly the actions of a friend.” 

Glaring at Scott, who was now turned towards the fall, breathing heavily. He turned back to Mrs. McCall. “Ok, I do not have time to get into why all that is so wrong. But hey, has Scott told you he’s a werewolf yet?” 

Scott spun around with a roar, eyes yellow, fangs dropped and claws out. Melissa screamed, backpedaling until her back hit the wall. Derek caught Scott as the teen launched himself across the room and slammed him into the floor with a roar of his own. Scott struggled against the hold, claws tearing at Derek’s arms and torso. Swatting away at the clawed hands, Derek flipped the teen over and took the wrist in one hand to press them against the small of Scott’s back. 

“Stiles, call Peter. We need him here.” 

“Bu--” 

“Call. Peter. Now.” 

Biting his lip, he called up the alpha, shooting a look towards Melissa as he did so. The woman still had her back against the wall, hands covering her mouth and staring down at her son. The door banged open as Luke and Matt charged in with their guns out. Freezing at the scene in front of them, they shuffled to a stop, looking between Melissa and Scott. 

“Well, fuck.” Luke said, holstering his weapon and running a hand over his face. “Matty, why don’t you take Mrs. McCall into the kitchen for a cup of tea or something.” 

The words seemed to push Melissa out of her shock. Moving away from the wall and towards Scott, she pointed a finger at Matt. “Don’t you dare try to sideline me. Whatever is going on, this is still my son and like hell will I leave him alone in a room with whatever the hell that is.” 

Jackson picked up the phone at that moment so Stiles retreated away from the chaos so the other boy could hear him. After a quick explanation and then the relay of the message to Peter, Jackson said he’d get the alpha there. Ending the call, he turned back to the group and saw that a stand off, of sorts, was going on between Melissa and Derek. The blue eyed beta was refusing to let Scott up and Melissa was looking one second away from braining the werewolf with a lamp. 

Pushing his way forward, a sudden spike of fear flooded him. Gasping, he felt himself freeze as he sorted through the emotion and realized that it wasn’t coming from him. Whirling around, he lunged towards Lydia, moving in the nick of time to catch the redhead as she collapsed to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and now I go away to hide from the people who will be upset about the cliffhanger. 
> 
> Buckle in folks. It's going to a be a bumpy ride to the finish. I promise it's a happy ending though.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warning:** The beginning of this chapter contains violence and blood. Summary of chapter in end notes.

The backdoor slammed shut in what should have been a satisfying clang but instead felt just as pointless and loud as the last hour had been. Fighting back tears, Allison slumped against the outside wall of the sheriff station and ran a shaking hand through her hair. Fuck her family. 

It had been a waste of time to come here. She should have stayed with the pack. Being somewhere without the pack when she had been with at least one of them almost constantly for the past weeks, felt wrong. It was like one of her limbs was missing to not have one within arms reach at all times. Turning around to smack the brick wall of the station, she cursed herself for her weakness. 

Fuck her family. Her mother had given no useful information. The entire purpose of the request seemed to be to have an excuse to tell her that she was a disgrace and a shame to her name. It shouldn’t matter what her mother thought. It didn’t matter what her mother thought. There was a hollow spot in her chest that hadn’t been there before. 

Refusing to let herself cry, she straightened back up and took a deep, shuddering, breath. The new FBI agent hadn’t finished speaking with her father yet, she should be back inside trying to listen in on them. They had brought Gerard back into the station as well, hoping that a meet up would reveal something. The sheriff had been incensed that he hadn’t been appraised of this until after it had happened. 

This new agent in charge was a bit of an arrogant asshole. The scent of smug superiority made her want to punch the moron in the face. It was obvious the man thought they were all bumbling idiots and that he’d be able to close up this case in minutes. 

Hand on the door handle, her phone buzzed. About to ignore it, she pushed down on the handle but then it buzzed again, and again. Letting go of the door, she pulled it out and felt her eyes widen as she read the increasingly frantic texts from Stiles. 

“Hey.” A voice said from behind her. Turning, she frowned. The deputy jogging towards her made her hackles rise. The man had a wide smile on his face but it was a face she didn’t recognize. 

Placing her hand back on the door handle, she angled her body between the man and the door. “Hi? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” 

Now within a few feet of her, all she could smell off of him was strong peppermint. It made her nose itch and eyes water. The man waved a hand in the air and smiled wider at her. 

“I normally work in the southern part of the county. Just been called up here because of everything going on. You’re Allison Argent, right?” 

“Why?” Everything in her was screaming that his man was wrong. The peppermint was keeping her from getting a clear read on his emotional state and there was a weird thumping noise blocking his heartbeat. 

He shrugged, hand resting on the hilt of his firearm. “No reason. Say, mind moving? I need to go inside and check in.” 

Giving him a polite smile, she stepped aside, watching his hands as he moved forward to the door. The peppermint was almost unbearable this close up and she had to take a step back to let her eyes clear. Her muscles were tense as he gave her a half salute, hand on the door. All her instincts were on high alert and the twist in her stomach was telling her not to let this man get through the door. 

Making an instant decision, she slammed her foot down on the man’s achilles’ tendon. He let out a bellow and pitched sideways as her hand fastened on his right wrist to swing it behind his back. Locking it in tight, she surged forward to slam him up against the wall, using the momentum of the man’s unsteady footing. 

Her shoulder exploded in pain and something wet hit her arm and face. The man used the wall to push off and throw the back of his head into her face. Her leg collapsed underneath her and she fell into the dirt with a scream of pain. A foot landed on her arm and she heard the crack of bone. 

“Bitch!” The foot landed on her stomach. Dizzy with pain, she rolled to the side and felt herself vomit up the morning’s breakfast. 

The back door banged open and she heard someone shout something then gunfire went off. Body still spasming from the pain and confusion, she tried to roll around but a booted heel smashed into her head, causing her vision to spark and black out. 

Pain shooting through her arm brought her back to awareness. Her body was being dragged across a tiled floor. Blinking through the blood dripping down her face, she felt more bile rise up in her throat. She was still in the sheriff station but there was debris and dust everywhere. 

Desks were overturned, papers fluttering through the air, blood on the walls. The arm she was being dragged by was the broken one. She could see the trail of blood left by the one that had been shot. A voice called her name, made her struggle against the hold but the pain from the action almost made her black out again. 

“Don’t worry Argent, little bitch’ll heal.” 

Her body hit the floor and she was unable to stop the half scream as every nerve seemed to light up pain. The boot rolled her over and what she saw gave her a tiny bit of hope. Lined up against the wall was her dad, the sheriff, and two of the FBI agents. Her dad struggled against the ropes holding him in place, shouting something at the other men in the station. 

The sheriff’s face was stone, he was staring straight ahead, eyes vacant. The lead FBI agent was trying to say something but between her dad and the man who had dragged her there, no one could hear him. 

Trying to swallow, she closed her eyes and forced herself to tune out the pain. She needed to figure out what was wrong with her to give her body a chance to heal itself. If the bullets were still inside, she needed to get them out. Letting herself fall onto her back, she bit her lip to stop the cry of pain from the movement. 

The noises around her made concentration difficult. Then one voice cut out, clear over them all and her concentration was gone. 

“Enough of all this. You and you. Gather up what we need and put everything in the truck. You, take her out as well.” 

A snarl rose up inside her, she wanted to rip and tear, destroy and kill. Rough hands pulled her up but her rage made the pain bleed away. In a frenzy, she slashed clawed fingers against the hands on her, there was a shout of surprise and she was dropped. Surging upwards, she threw herself where the voice of her grandfather had come from. 

White hot pain spasmed through her body and she collapsed to the floor, twitching from the electricity that was still being fired through her system. 

“Enough.” The voice was as cold as the eyes of the man behind it. Gerard loomed over her, his lips twisted in disgust. “I told you to never underestimate one of these things. There’s no telling how far they will go to kill at any cost. Tie it up and put it in the truck.” 

“Allison! Gerard you can’t, she’s your granddaughter.” 

“She stopped being my granddaughter, the moment she became a monster. It was a lesson I thought you understood. Apparently I need to make sure it sinks it a little better this time.” 

Her arms were wrenched behind her back, tied tight with something that dug deep into her wrists. Her vision was swimming in and out of focus as she was dragged out of the station and thrown into the back of a truck. She could feel her mind trying to leave the desolation and pain of her current situation. Tears were running down her face and she had no idea how to fight this. 

Where was her pack? Her alpha? The last thought made her gasp, alpha, pack. Peter had heard Stiles howl when the teen had been miles past where that should have been possible. Pack bonds between werewolves were not normal, human bonds. They were magic. 

Throat constricting, she closed her eyes and thought about the pack. She thought about Derek, his quiet pain and deep longing for his family. Stiles, his quick mind and thirst for information. Jackson, the desire to fit in and truly belong somewhere. Lydia, to let herself trust and be trusted. Peter, her alpha, the protector, he would always come. 

The howl’s strength surprised her. It echoed through the metal truck walls, seemingly strengthening as it continued. Loud curses and banging, startled her out of the howl. The door of the truck slammed back open and someone jumped inside. 

The man was right above her when through the air another howl lit echoed across the town. She grinned up at the hunter. “My alpha’s coming and he’s going to tear you to pieces. Run away now while you still have the chance.” 

“Yeah, we’ll see bitch. I think we got enough firepower to take out your pathetic excuse of a pack. So howl again, see what good it does you.” 

“Johnson, let’s go!” A hand banged on the door. “Shut her up and get back out of there.” 

The unconsciousness was a relief. It meant she didn’t have to endure the pain of the journey to wherever they were going. 

When she woke up, it was dark. The scents around her were muted and damp ones. Cold concrete was on her back and she was sure that she was wearing different clothing. The last thought made her shudder. She clenched her hands into fists and was relieved to find no pain was lingering. How long had she been out? 

Rolling over to her side, she flexed out one leg, then the other. No shoes, loose clothing, her muscles and ligaments all seemed to be in working order. Getting to her feet, she winced but only slight traces of pain flitted through her body. The light, loose clothes, did little to preserve body heat and she shivered in the damp cold of the darkened space. 

Focusing on her eyesight, she felt more settled as they adjusted and the room came into focus. Concrete surrounded her on four walls, ceiling and floor. There was a door made of metal on one wall. Closer inspection showed the hinges on the other side and no latch or handle on her side. A covered bucket sat in a corner. Nothing else was in the space. 

No sounds or scents came through from anywhere. The only thing she could hear was the thump of her own heartbeat and her gasps as her breaths shortened. A room like this could be a wolf’s worst nightmare. To deprive them of any scent or sound was the same as blinding them. Pressing her back against the wall, letting the rough slide as she sat down ground her to reality. 

She couldn’t afford to panic. This couldn’t break her. She had to stay strong and keep her mind busy. Bringing out a hand, she focused on her fingers, letting a count of them calm her down and regulate her breathing. 

There was no way to tell how long she stayed sitting, with her back against the wall, taking slow and deep breaths. She knew that at some point she dozed off, but without sound or scent, she couldn’t tell for how long. A clang against the door was her only warning before it swung open. Already prepared in her mind, she stayed motionless, her back to the opposite corner of the room. Let them have to come get her. 

Her moth— no, _Victoria_ , strode into the room. Two men followed, each holding a buzzing stun baton. 

“Hello, Allison.” Letting her fingers unclench, she shifted her eyes away from the cool smirk on Victoria’s face. “I see you’re feeling better. You think I’d be used to the healing after all these years, but some things never cease to surprise me. An alpha’s need to protect their betas, for example.” 

Something in the tone made her look back at the woman she had called mom. A tight feeling clenched her gut. Victoria smiled, a slow smirk. “You know there are a lot of myths out there about how to cure lycanthropy. Scott McCall was convinced the only way was to kill the one that turned you. Nonsense of course. However, most myths started from something. Thank you for that howl earlier, by the way, we never would have caught him without you.” 

“No.” The word slipped past her lips. 

Victoria’s smile widened. “Oh yes. Say hello to your alpha, sweetie.” 

Another hunter came through the door, the two men beside Victoria moved to allow space for the other man to drag the unconscious form of Peter Hale into the room. Dropping the alpha, the hunter smirked and backed away. 

“Have fun in your last moments with your alpha as a werewolf. You won’t really remember any of it after, so it doesn’t really matter.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

Victoria stalked forward, fingers snapping out to grab her chin. “I’m going to cure you. Then shape you into the hunter you should have been had not I let your father decide things with your upbringing.” 

Jerking her chin away, she bared her teeth. “You don’t get away with any of this.” 

“Oh Allison, we already have. Your pathetic excuse of a pack won’t find us here. We just have to wait for the new moon now. We are so close to getting everything we need.” 

Turning, Victoria and the other hunters marched out of the room. Before the door had fully shut, she was on her knees, turning Peter’s head over in her hands. The alpha’s neck had dark veins sliding down it, curling underneath his shirt. Running her hands through his hair, she leaned over to rest their foreheads against one another. Her whole body was shaking and she was fighting off what she was pretty sure was a panic attack. 

How was the pack going to find them? With Peter captured and who knew the state of the sheriff department and the FBI team, it left only Stiles and Derek as wolves to track them. Derek might have the experience but neither of them had the connection that an alpha did to their pack members. 

She dragged Peter over to the wall and sat back against it with his head in her lap. Her mind couldn’t stop racing through the possibilities. Things had not been going well before but now — her fingers tightened in Peter’s hair. Now, things felt hopeless. 

Peter stirring startled her awake a while later. “Hey, hey…” She gripped at his shoulder, unsure of where all he was injured. The wolf stilled underneath her hand, she felt the tension flood his body as his awareness returned. He snarled, eyes bright red against the pitch black of the room. Pushing himself up, he stumbled, before sagging into the wall. 

“Do you know where we are?” 

“No...Peter…” 

He growled, hitting at the wall with much less force than it should have been. It made her mouth go dry, seeing him weak like this was so jarring. Stiles had been the primary one with him over the past few days so she hadn’t had the chance to see it as much for herself. 

“Who? Hunters or — ” 

“Gerard, Victoria and their men. They attached the police station and got me and I don’t know what else. Gerard had them gather up some stuff. Peter, you should sit down.” 

“I’m fine. We need to find a way out.” 

“The walls are solid concrete, that door is solid metal something. You think they put us in somewhere you can get out of?” 

His eyes flashed. “Hunters always underestimate us.” 

“No, not always.” Standing up, she stomped over to him and grabbed his arm. “Save your strength. You need it if we are going to get out of here. Pounding at the walls won’t get us anything except concrete dust in our eyes.” 

For a moment she thought he was going to keep fighting her but then he slumped forward. Controlling his fall, they ended up in a heap together on the floor. The forehead on her shoulder felt too warm. Turning her face, she pressed it into his head, breathing in his scent. Even as unwell as he smelled, it was still better than the blank nothingness that was this space. 

They sat there together, for several long moments, breathing in the comfort of being with pack. After a time, he shifted, trying to push himself back up. She clutched at his arm and he let out a sigh and sank back into her space. 

“I’m not useless.” 

“I know, I’m sorry, I just...I couldn’t live with myself if I got you killed. How would I ever face Stiles again?” 

Huffing, he turned and pressed dry lips to her forehead. “You wouldn’t have gotten me anything, brave one, I came for a pack member in trouble. I should have waited and tracked them but I got over confident and got caught. It was my fault, not yours.” 

“I still — ” 

“Hush. I don’t want to hear anymore about it. It’s happened, we need to focus on the next steps like you said before. Save our strength to come at them when they don’t expect it. They’ll have to do something for me if they want me to live long enough for whatever ritual they have planned.” 

“Are you that close? To...” She couldn’t bring herself to say the actual word. 

“Dying?” His voice was dry. “Yes, I do believe I am. No, don’t break down on me now, Allison, I know it’s not fair but I’m going to need you to be the strong one if it does happen. Derek and Stiles won’t cope well. You’ll have to get them through it.” 

Her breath caught in her throat. Shaking, she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. “You’re right. That’s not fair. But you know I will. Of course I will.” 

“I know, I know. You’re strong. I’m so lucky to have you be part of my pack.” 

Silence fell after that, she was sure they drifted again, sleeping off and on until the door clanged again. Peter tensed in her arms, pushing away at her. “Don’t be so close, no need to broadcast anything.” 

Fighting all her instincts that craved being next to her alpha, she shifted over a few feet and waited as the door swung open. Before either of them could do anything a bag of food was thrown down on the floor. There were three unknown hunters, each with a crackling stun baton. The one from the station stepped forward with a smirk. 

“There’s a shot of stuff red eyes needs if he doesn’t want to die too early. Personally, I don’t care much but you decide.” The man shrugged before backing out of the room with the others. 

Snarling at his retreating back, she ripped the bag open. It contained protein bars, two bottles of water and a syringe of something. Turning to Peter, she held it up. He grimaced and ran a hand over his face. 

“Unfortunately we don’t have much choice.” 

“What if it’s something worse?” 

“Worse than dying?” 

Huffing, she stalked over to him to push at his shoulder until he slouched back down to sit. “Part of whatever fucked up plan they have to sacrifice you and somehow cure me of wolfiness.” 

The alpha’s lips quirked as he took the syringe with trembling fingers. “Wolfiness, you’ve been hanging out with Stiles too much.” 

Snatching the syringe back, she glared at him. “Shut up and sit still.” 

Pulling up his shirt, she winced at the festering knife slash on his shoulder. It was a mottled green color and the scent rising out of it was a rotten one. Placing the syringe next to it, she pressed it in as carefully as possible. 

“As much as I appreciate the care, princess, I’d appreciate having this over with more.” 

Finishing up, she glared at him again. “Don’t call me that.” 

Chuckling, he reached for the bag, grimacing as it pulled on the wound. Grabbing it, she handed him a protein bar and unscrewed one of the water bottles. She took a careful sip and then offered it to him. There was no telling how long it would be between feeding times. Eying the bucket in one corner with distaste, she hoped that they would take that with them at times. 

“How long until the new moon?” 

“Five or six depending on how long we’ve already been here.” 

“Shit.” 

“Literally.” 

The sneer on his face as he too eyed the bucket gave her a mad urge to giggle. Pushing down that wave of hysteria, she rested her forehead on her knees and let out a breath. Five days. They could do this. All they had to do was stay alive. 

Gerard and Deaton had underestimated Lydia and Stiles before, they would do it again. If she and Peter could overpower and escape before then, even better, but she could have faith in her pack. She had to have faith in the pack, there was nothing else for her to hold onto. 

Peter’s shoulder bumped against hers. Turning to look at him, she saw his face tighten. “Don’t lose faith in me.” 

Wiping at the tears falling, she shook her head. “Never.” 

He wrapped his good arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. “Good. We will get out of this. Those damn hunters won’t know what hit them.” 

“I’m going to rip them apart.” 

Humming, his grip tightened. “Good. We’ll do it together then. Protecting our pack.” 

Relaxing in his hold, she felt sleep pull at her again. How she was still tired, she had no idea. It could have been the food, mixed with the comfort of the alpha. Humans couldn’t fully understand this, not really. This rush of emotion and need to protect and defend. She knew now what Stiles must have felt at the Nemeton with Jennifer. There was nothing she wouldn’t do right now to make sure they were all safe. 

The next time the door opened, she’d be ready. Even if they couldn’t get free, they could take some of the hunter forces out. Gerard couldn’t have infinite numbers, not when he was going against the code and making them so visible like this. Grinning at the thought of causing the old man pain, she relaxed more fully. The hunters would pay for this, she would make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allison is at the sheriff station when it is attacked by hunters. She is shot in the arm and leg and then sees Gerard threatening her father. She is brought to an unknown location and wakes up healed and alone in a dark room. Victoria comes in and taunts her. The hunters bring Peter in, having captured him when he came to try and save Allison. Peter admits he is dying and the hunters give them minimal food and something to prolong Peter's life. Victoria states that they are waiting for the new moon and that after that they will cure Allison of being a werewolf and wipe her memories. 
> 
> And that's a wrap for this week. So sorry to continually leave you on cliffhangers...if these are hard for you then you may want to wait until the story is finished to continue reading. 
> 
> Like I said in the last chapter, I promise a happy ending for our main characters!


End file.
